To Catch A Shooting Star
by wolfmyjic
Summary: What will a game of 20 questions reveal about Brennan and Booth relationship? What will happen when Booth is given a new partner? Who does the skeleton in the lab belong too? [Chapter 25 & the Epilogue are now up! Completed.]
1. The Picnic

The night was warm. A slightly cooler breeze rustled the leaves. Special Agent Seeley Booth and his sometime partner, Dr. Temperance Brennan sat at a picnic table enjoying a dinner of Chinese food. "This was a good idea, Booth," Brennan said, finishing off the last bit of her noodles.

"I do have those from time to time." Booth gathered up both of their trash and walked the short distant to the garbage can. "I figured," he said walking back, "that this last case really sent us both in a tail spin. That we both needed so down time, although I'm sure you would rather be working, eh, Bones?" Brennan had changed position, and Booth found her laying long ways on the table, her legs, from the knees down, dangling over the edge. Even through he couldn't see her eyes, he knew that she had rolled them. Brennan hated his nickname for her, and frankly, that was one reason he called her that. Letting out a sigh, Booth walked around the table. "Move over a bit." Booth mirrored Brennan's pose from the opposite side, bringing the heads almost in line with each other. For a moment they both just laid there. Letting the wind wash over them, as if wishing that their problems would be taken with it.

"I don't know when I can remember seeing so many stars in the sky," Brennan said, breaking the silence.

"Someone once told me, back when I was a kid, that stars were all the souls that had passed away. And when you see them twinkling, like that one," Booth pointed up to the sky. "That it's someone who's dear to one winking from beyond."

"You don't really believe that, do you Booth?" Brennan asked, looking over at him. The light from the bright full moon created shadows over his features.

"I did when I was a child," he started. "Oh, about five or six. Then I got a little older, and it didn't really ring true, but I still wanted to believe. Once my teenage years came about, it was a bunch of hogwash. But you know, as I've gotten on up in age, I like the concept. It's, what the word, life affirming, to think, to believe if you will, that there's something more to this world than what we see." Brennan turned her head back toward the sky, and for a moment tried to believe that Booth was right.

"Booth," Brennan stopped, and Booth didn't push. "Since you're in a talking mood, answer me this. Why do you keep calling me Bones? You know I don't like it." Booth thought for a moment.

"I guess, Bon-uh-Temperance, that I like the fact that it annoys you some."

"That's not very nice, you know that right?" Brennan was surprised when Booth chuckled.

"It's all in good fun, Tempe. A sign that, well, you know, I like you. We are colleagues, after all." Brennan felt heat spread over her cheeks. Angela had told her that it was just a pet name. It was a way for Booth to show friendship, or at least comradeship, without having to say so. _Men don't like to say things like that_, Angela had said. Once more a silence fell over them. "My turn."

"You turn what?" Brennan asked.

"I thought we were playing 20 question. You asked the first one, and now it's my turn. You do know what 20 question is, don't you?"

"Of course I do," Brennan said. "I just didn't know we were playing it."

"Sure, why not, nothing else to do. OK, so, tell me something about your life nobody else that you work with knows." Brennan cocked her mouth to one side.

"I don't think that's a very good question."

"Sure it is." Brennan took in a deep breath, held it for 10 seconds and then let it out. All the while, thinking back over her life to find something to tell Booth. _Oh, he's going to pay for that one_, she thought to herself.

"Ok, I have something," she finally said. "But if this gets out, I swear I'll track you down and hurt you. And you know I can." Booth held up his right hand.

"Scout's honor."

"When I was little, about three or four, I had an imaginary friend."

"No way," Booth said, a little doubtful.

"I know," she answered, "it's hard to believe. It was a purple hippo named Spanky." Booth dropped his head to the side to look at her, to see if she was laughing.

"Spanky?" he asked when her face appeared smooth and serious. Brennan nodded.

"Yup." Booth smiled, then looked back up at the twinkling stars. "Look!" Brennan's hand shot up toward the sky. "Did you see it? A shooting star."

"I saw it, alright. The same guy that told me about the twinkling stars also told me that when you see a shooting star, then you get to make a wish. And it you ever could catch one, then all your hearts desires would come true."

"Ok, Booth, I can go along with making a wish, even through I don't really believe in that, but you never thought you could catch one, did you?"

"Why not?" Booth asked. When Brennan didn't answer, he went on. "So, what shall we wish for?"

"How about more hours in the day to work?" Brennan suggested.

"How about I wish that a certain woman I know wasn't so…so…dependant on work?"

"It's not my fault that I like what I do. You like your job, don't you?"

"Sometimes are better than others."

"My turn, by the way. If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?"

"How many days do I have?"

"As many as you want. And you can take anybody and as many as you want." Booth stared up at the stars as he thought.

"Umm, well, I've always wanted to go to Egypt. See the pyramids and things."

"You? Egypt?"

"Yeah, what's so funny about that?"

"I don't know," Brennan said. "I didn't mean to laugh, it's just that I never pictured you as a Egypt history type of person."

"Well, that's what this game is about, right? Learning something new about somebody."

"Yeah, I guess you are right." Brennan sat up, and wrapped her arms around herself. The wind was getting cold against the bare skin of her arms.

"Here," Booth said, sitting up as well. He took off his suit jacket and put it around her shoulders.

"Thanks."

"No problem."

"Booth," Brennan started, and then stopped. "Seeley," she tried again. "Do you consider us friends?"

"Now, Temperance, that's two questions in a row. It's my turn." Brennan rolled her eyes.

"Ok, then you ask a question." Booth stood up and offered Brennan his hand. When she took it, he pulled her to her feet.

"Do you consider us friends?"

"Hey, that's my question."

"I know, but now you have to answer it." He flashed her his world famous Booth smile.

"Yes, I suppose I do consider you a friend. Even through you are annoying most of the time." Booth chuckled. He put an arm around her shoulders and they started off towards his SUV.

"That's good, Bones, because I think of you as a friend, too." The wind swirled around them, and above them the stars twinkled and yet other shooting star arched across the star.


	2. The Shocking News

**Thanks to Stephanie519, sarramaks, angelwriter2492, avaleighfitzgerald and everybody else who reviewed. It means a lot. And Kudosvu please don't pout!**

**Ok, so I was going to make _To Catch A Falling Star_ a one shot thing. But since people seemed to actually enjoy it (or at least read it), I have decided to continue. **

**So, welcome to Chapter 2 of _To Catch a Shooting Star._**

**Warning: I'm not very good at all the technical stuff of FBI, Forensics, Anthropology, and most anything else that's, well, technical. Please bear with me.**

**Legal stuff: I don't own the characters of Dr. Temperance Brennan, Special Agent Seeley Booth, or any other character developed by the legal owners of "BONES" or the books in which BONES are based on. **

**I did use my creative license to create new characters and situations.**

**Thanks for taking the time to read. I really, really hope that you enjoy it.**

* * *

Dr. Temperance Brennan sat in the silence of her office, staring at her laptop screen. She wasn't sure how long she had been sitting there; she refused to look at the clock. Angela, Zack and Hodgins had left long ago, leaving her to pour over their findings for the day, and then try to write some on her new book. However, the dialogue wouldn't come. It had been five days since her and Booth had sat outside under the bright full moon, and had admitted they were friends. _Friends_. That word tickled her mind and made her smile. They had been through a lot in their short partnership. Cases that boggled the senses, conversations that left them both wordless, and realizations that totally confused her.

A deep sigh escaped her lips. Where was Booth, anyhow? Brennan wondered if he had gotten scared after he dropped her off at her home last Friday. She laughed. _Booth? Scared?_ No, that didn't sound right. Something had come up. She supposed that was normal for FBI agents. To be given a case and then lose track of time and reality. It often happened to her when a new skeleton came in, but weren't they partners? _Of course we are,_ she answered to herself. _But I'm not FBI. I can only do so much_. Again, Brennan sighed. She saved her file, and then closed the top to her computer.

The quietness of the lab had always been a comfort to her. A time when her thoughts were her own, when there were no distractions. A time when Brennan felt lonely. Not only lonely, but also alone. And tonight, it was worst. Thoughts from the passed Friday played through her mind. Images of Booth laying on the picnic table beside her. The moonlight playing over his features, the sound of his laugh escaping into the warm air. A light tap brought her back to the here and now. She shook her head, slightly, hen turned to find Booth leaning against the jam of her office door.

"Hi," he said, his velvety brown eyes looking darker than normal.

"Hi yourself." Brennan wasn't sure how long he had been standing there, and was suddenly glad that he couldn't tell where her thoughts had wandered. "Where have you been?" Booth pushed himself off the jam, and walked into the room.

"It's been a long few day, Bones." Booth flopped down in the chair across from her, and dropped the folder in his hand to the floor. He then propped his feet on the corner of her desk and crossed his arms. Normally, this would have sent Brennan into a tizzy, but tonight she could tell the Booth was struggling enough.

"New case?" Brennan asked, hoping that he wouldn't tell her that it was one she couldn't help with. Booth closed his eyes, dropped his head back, and then rolled it from side to side, trying to loosen the tight knot in his neck.

"You could say that," he said, after a long pause. Brennan drew her brows together. She wasn't sure what he meant by that.

"Is that's where you've been to past few days?" Booth opened his eyes and looked at her.

"It goes beyond that, Bones."

"I don't know what that means." She heard a raspy chuckle come from him.

"I know, I know." He took a deep breath, and stood. Brennan watched as he paced around her office.

"Are you going to let me in on the secret?" she asked. "Or did you come just to pace around." Booth flashed her a signature smile, then let his face fall back into a scowl.

"It's _them_," he said with a wave of his hand. "They said that I needed someone to cover my back. That you were an anthropologist, although I am surprised they could say the word. I tried to tell them that our setup was fine. That a good team was what was important. That you squints don't like lots of people in the lab." Brennan listened to him rumble on, not quite understanding.

"Booth," she said, trying to interrupted.

"But do they listen? No, of course not. They just go on to tell me that it's what best."

"Booth," Brennan tried again, a little louder.

"Give it a try they told me. It might work out. Try a case."

"Seeley!" Brennan all but yelled. Booth stopped pacing and turned to Brennan, now half standing, with her hands flat on her desk.

"What?"

"What are you talking about?" she asked, sitting back down.

"Special Agent Diana Weasley." Brennan looked at him in total confusion.

"Who's that?" Booth pinched his lips together. Brennan could see his mind working just by the look in his eyes.

"My…partner," he said, spitting out the last word and pulling a face like when something leaves a bad taste in your mouth.

"Partner?" Brennan sat there, looking anyway but at Booth. "But," she began. "But I thought we were…"

"That's what I told them," he said, picking his pacing back up. "I told them that I had a partner. That you and I work well together. That our successful case history should speak for itself. Why do I need a partner anyhow?" Booth noticed that look that Brennan shot him. "I mean, a new partner," he corrected with a small grin.

"So…that's where you've been? Working a case with, whatshername?"

"No, I've been trying to convince Cullen that I have a partner. I just got handed a case file tonight." Booth smiled shyly, reaching down to pick up the folder. "After Agent Weasley left for the day."

"Booth! Don't you think that your, um, _partner _should know about the case?" she said through clenched teeth.

"She will, Bones," he said, opening the file to look into it. He looked up at her through his lashes. "But I thought that _my_ partner would want in on it first. But if you think otherwise…"

"Spill it, Booth."

"That's what I thought," he said with a laugh. "Looks like you'll be busy," he started. "There'll be a skeleton coming in the morning for you to look at. Some volunteers found it at a park while planting trees."

"Well, the soil should be well fertilized."

"That's cold, Bones. Even for you."

"What? There's nothing that can be done about it now. Nature took its course. A dead thing decomposed to make the ground better for growing." Booth shook his head. Brennan had always been one to cut straight to the facts.

"Anyhow, they found this skele while digging a hole to plant a tree. The old woman who found it had quite a start when she hit something hard that turned out to be a skull. The local forensic team excavated it."

"So, how did this become a FBI case?" Brennan asked.

"Good question," Booth said, snapping the folder shut.

"Yeah, I thought so too."

"Seems like an _important_ _official_," he held up his hands, two fingers on each in the air, and curved them over as he spoke, indicating that these words were knock-offs of what was exactly said. "Person _associated _with some other _important official_ person has a son who is missing. So strings got pulled and I got handed the case. Kid's name Jeremy Whitman."

"So they think that this skeleton is this missing son? How long has the boy been missing?"

"About two years or so. Apparently the agent who worked the case the first time around retired. Lucky me, I get to pick up where he left off."

"You _and_ your new partner," Brennan pointed out.

"Don't remind me," Booth answered, rolling his eyes. "So, how long do you think it'll take you and your team to get me the preliminary report?"

"If the skeleton comes in early enough, we should have it by about 2 maybe 3. I'll call you."

"Thanks, Bones," he said, standing up. "This is going to be a long case. But hopefully Cullen will learn not to stick his nose in my business."

"Um, Booth, I think you are his business, he is, after all, your boss."

"Technicality," he said with a smile. "See you tomorrow, Bones!" he called walking out of the door.

* * *

_Thanks for reading Chapter Two. I hope that you enjoyed it. Not too fluffy yet, is it?_

_Feel free to review._


	3. 3 o'clock

**Welcome to Chapter 3!**

**Thanks for reading this far. And thanks to everybody who reviewed Chapters 1 & 2.**

**Warning: I'm not very good at all the technical stuff of FBI, Forensics, Anthropology, and most anything else that's, well, technical. Please bear with me.**

**Legal stuff: I don't own the characters of Dr. Temperance Brennan, Special Agent Seeley Booth, or any other character developed by the legal owners of "BONES" or the books in which BONES are based on. **

**I did use my creative license to create new characters and situations.**

**Thanks again for taking the time to read. I really, really hope that you enjoy it.**

* * *

Brennan was at the lab early the next day. The skeleton that Booth had told her about had come in, and she was eager to get a jump on it, before having to explain to her team what was going on. That in this case-a case where the victim was her specialty, so to speak- she would be held up at the lab, instead of out in the field. Brennan let out a shaky breath. It hadn't occurred to her how much she actually liked going out in the field, liked being out with Booth. She pulled off the latex gloves and rubbed the back of one hand over her eyes. "Hey, sweetie, what's up?" Angela asked, as she walked into the lab. "You look dead tire. Did you go home last night?" Brennan nodded.

"Believe it or not, I sure did. Didn't sleep well, but I went home." Angela looked her in the eyes, and saw a shadow of something dark pass over them.

"What's wrong, Tempe?" Brennan pinched her lips together.

"I'll rather wait until Zach and Hodgins get in for the day." Angela watched her friend very closely. Something was wrong, but she knew that Brennan had made up her mind. This was something that she wanted to say only once. Something that was to be hard for her.

"OK, sweetie," Angela smoothed. "What's with the bones?" Brennan glanced over at the skeleton laid out on her examining table.

"Kinda goes with what's wrong."

"Right, ok, Tempe, what do you want to talk about?" Brennan grinned over at her best friend.

"Not really up on talking." Angela nodded, then turned and walked off toward her office. _This is going to be a long day,_ Brennan thought to herself. _A very long day_.

"What do you mean?" Angela asked. "Not partners?" Brennan bit her bottom lip between her teeth. She knew that it would be Ange that would speak up. "They can't do that, can they? Just toss you to the side." Angela was mad. _How can they do this?_ She thought to herself. _I'm never gonna get them together if the brass spilt them up._ Angela all but growled at that fact.

"I'm not a piece of trash, Ange. They just thought that Booth should have a FBI partner."

"You mean someone with a gun," Hodgins said. "Someone who has his back." Angela shot him a _shut-the-hell-up_ look.

"Nonsense," Angela said. "It has to be some mistake." _There has to be a reason. "_Booth just let it happen? Let them spilt you two up?"

"Of course not," Brennan said, making sure that she wasn't yelling. "He spent four days trying to convince them it was a bad idea. He was even trying to look out for all of us." Brennan looked around the small group. "A new partner means someone else in the lab. Booth tried to tell them the less people here the better we work."

"Dr. Brennan is right," Zack said. "Booth is bad enough, but now there's going to be somebody else to explain things too." Hodgins and Angela nodded.

"That's what Booth tried to explain."

"Maybe it's a conspiracy?" Brennan rolled her eyes. "No hear me out, maybe…"

"Oh, please," Angela said. "It's _not_ a conspiracy. It's just some stupid FBI thing to make our lives harder." _Or maybe it is a conspiracy,_ Angela thought. _A conspiracy against me trying to hook Tempe and Booth up!_

"Ok," Brennan said. "That's enough. We have a job to do, remember? We have a pile of bones," -she went on- "that needs to be identified. Everybody knows what to do. Now get to it." She turned her back to her team and walked into her office. "Now!" she called before slamming her door shut.

Angel, Zack and Hodgins looked around at each other. "Not taking it well, is she?" Hodgins said.

"For some reason, she lived to go out in the field," Angela answered.

"I thought," Zack began, "she hated it. After all, she always fusses about going." Both Hodgins and Angela laughed.

"She doesn't hate it, Zack, no matter how much she complained." Angela smiled at his confusion.

"Yeah, Zack," Hodgins said. "Brennan isn't like the rest of us."

"She's not?" Zack asked.

"Nope, she's too far gone to be 'normal' but not far enough to be a 'mad scientist'." Hodgins finished with an evil laugh as he turned away.

Brennan stood over the skeleton. Zack stood across from her watching and listening as she quietly went about examining the body. "Dr. Brennan," he asked. His voice almost squeaking, making Brennan realize just how young he was. "May I ask you something?"

"Is it relevant to the case?" she asked, not looking up.

"Umm, well, I'm not sure." Zack cleared his throat, and pushed on. "Why are you so upset about Booth getting a new partner? I mean you are a scientist after all. Don't you feel more comfortable in the lab?" Brennan looked up at him, and under her steady gaze, Zack began to rethink his question.

"Of course," she answered. "The lab is where I spend most of my time. It's where I'm most relaxed at, but sometimes you have to do something that makes you a little nervous. By the time I get involved in a case, the victims always look like this," she gestured to the table. "Sometimes I like to know that I'm helping somebody who still has a pulse."

"But isn't that why you became an anthropologist?" Brennan was aware that Angela and Hodgins had moved closer to where they stood. Both concentrating hard on looking like they weren't listening.

"It's true, Zack, I'm better with dead things then I am with the living. I choose this field because the work is more solitary then other jobs. The people I work have minds that work like my own. Bringing up decomposed bodies over lunch doesn't scare any of you away. But," she paused. _What had made me change my mind?_ She thought. _What made me want to go out in the field? _"But to be a well rounded scientist, then you need to learn all you can about the world. And to be a good anthropologist, then you have to learn about people." Brennan lowered her head to pay careful attention to a bone that she hoped no one would ask her about.

Brennan didn't bother to look at the clock. She had told Booth she would have answers at 3 o'clock, so when she heard the lab doors open, she knew exactly what time it was. She also knew by the lab became even more hushed, that Booth's new _partner_ was with him. Brennan took a deep breath to prepare herself. "Let's get this out the way," Booth said in a booming voice. "This is Special Agent Diana Weasley. She's working with me on this case." Brennan noticed he didn't introduce her as his partner. "Weasley, this is Dr. Temperance Brennan, my _partner_," he said, making sure that everybody in the lab heard. Brennan gave the woman a weak smile since her hands were still covered with latex gloves. Weasley was a woman of about 5'8" with shoulder length blond hair. Her blue eyes were bright and cheerful, and Brennan decided right then that she hated her.

"Nice to meet you finally, Doctor," Weasley said, her lips turned up into a pleasant smile.

"That over there is Angela Montenegro." The two women nodded at each other. "Dr. Jack Hodgins by the bug case. And the pint-size squint is Mack."

"Zack," Brennan corrected. "Zack Addy, my lab assistant." Booth grinned at her, letting her know that he was aware of the _mistake_.

"Ok, now that that's out of the way," Booth began, promptly ignoring the woman beside him. "What have you got for me, Bones?"

"Well, the bones are male," she begun, thankful to be able to look somewhere else other than at Weasley or Booth. "I say about age 12 to 15, we'll have more later on. Killed by a strike to the back of the head. Angela is working on reconstructing the face." She looked up to find Booth eyes. "It'll be tomorrow before I can tell you all long he's been dead and how long he's been in the ground." Booth nodded his head.

"Good work. Call me when you get more information." He gave her one last painful look, before turning of his heels and headed to the door.

"See you later, Bones," Weasley said, turning to follow. Brennan looked at her through neared eyes. She hated it when Booth called her that, but she really loathed someone else saying it. Everybody else in the room quickly dropped their eyes to their preferred task. Each one waiting for Brennan to explode, but it was Booth that spoke.

"_What_ did you call her?" he asked, though clenched teeth, as he turned to face Weasley.

"Bon…Bones," she said quietly. "Isn't that what you called her?" Booth shook his head.

"No, no, no. You refer to her as _Doctor_ Brennan. Nothing else. Do I make myself clear?"

"Of course, I'm sorry." Booth looked passed her to Brennan, and then once again turned on his heels and walked out.

* * *

_So there you have it. Chapter 3. What do you thank? Feel free to review. I really enjoy reading through them. Ok, I'll confess, it gives me a little rush- a high, if you will- to read them. Guess I've become a "Review Junkie". ;-)_

_TBC with Chapter 4_


	4. Got to be Daddy

**Thanks to everybody who has reviewed my story so far. It really means A LOT! There's a little fluff in this chapter, not a lot, just a little, but don't worry, the next chapter promises to be more fluffy (I hope). I just don't want to rush anything, ya'know? I want to take things nice and slow.**

**Legal stuff: I don't own the characters of Dr. Temperance Brennan, Special Agent Seeley Booth, or any other character developed by the legal owners of "BONES" or the books in which BONES are based on. **

**I did use my creative license to create new characters and situations.**

* * *

Special Agent Seeley Booth sat at his desk in FBI headquarter. Without the support of resting his temple against his curled up fist, his arm propped up on his desk, he was certain he would had laid his head down and went to sleep. In his other hand, he had a pencil that he tapped. Tapping first the point, then sliding his fingers down, flipping it over and tapping the easer. His eyes had glossed over about thirty minutes before, and now he sat not seeing what he was looking at. A light tap brought his eyes into focus and he slowly looked up. Afraid that Weasley would be standing there. "Bones," he said, pleasantly surprised.

"Thought you could use some coffee," she said, holding up a steaming cup.

"Come in." Booth half stood as he motioned toward the chair in front of his desk. Brennan smiled, walked in and sat down. She then handed the cup to Booth. He took a grateful sip, before bringing his eyes up to met hers. "So really brings you by? And I know that bringing me a cup of coffee didn't motive you."

"And why can't I just be concerned for you?" she asked, knowing that she wasn't good at laying. _Or would this be my miserable attempt at flirting?_ Booth gave her a half smile, and took anther sip on coffee.

"Um, my bet is that you're here about the case." He laughed when red rose into her cheeks. "It's ok. I was going to stop by and see you anyhow. This just saves me the trip."

"Where's Weasley off too?"

"As far as I know, home. Took me forever to get rid of her." He had a disgusted look on his face. "Of course she ran and told Cullen that I pulled rank on her. The whole Dr. Brennan-Bones thing."

"I didn't know you _pulled rank_," Brennan said, sitting back in the chair. "You just told her what I prefer. Now if only you would take your own advice." She gave him her best wicked grin.

"And would you want me to call you Dr. Brennan every time I say you?"

"I don't know, we could try and see."

"Ok, then _Doctor_ Brennan, have you found out anything else about our skeleton?" Brennan rolled her eyes. Booth smiled. _I'll call her doctor_, he thought. _But she's not going to like it as much as she thinks._

"Well, he went to the doctor quite a bit. He broke his arm twice and his collar bone once."

"His collar bone?"

"Yeah, most likely our victim played football. It's a common injury."

"I don't remember anything about Jeremy playing football." Booth drew his brow together. "In fact, he was reportedly a geek. Geeks don't play football well. Although, I guess that could explain the fracture."

"Booth, just because you're smart, doesn't mean you can't play sports," Brennan protested.

"Have anything else?"

"Not really, but we've still looking into it. It would be easier if the skull had teeth."

"Yeah," Booth nodded his agreement. "I thought that was odd that the teeth were missing."

"Most likely pulled so that he couldn't be identified. The culprit was smart."

"Yeah, but whoever did this forgot about one thing," he said with a smile.

"And what who that be?"

"That the FBI agent assigned the case who have the best forensic anthropologist in the world working with him." Brennan felt heat start to spread across her face at the compliment.

"I wouldn't say I was the best, Booth," she began.

"No, but I do."

"It's my turn, by the way," Brennan said after a short silence.

"Your turn what?"

"Our game of 20 questions. It's my turn to ask. After all, it only ends once all 20 questions have been answered."

"Alright, Dr. Brennan, what would you like to know?"

"Who do you think influenced you the most?" Booth took another drink of his coffee while he thought.

"Umm, that's a really good question," Booth said. "Let's see, I would have to say Parker." Brennan looked at him, obvious confusion on her face. "Until Parker was born," he explained, "I kinda lived just for me. And for work. But now, now I have someone else who depends on me. I can't just be Booth the FBI agent or Booth the single guy. I've also got to be Daddy. It's changed my outlook on life. Parker has taught me that sometimes, the world won't go crazy if I take off my suit, put on blue jeans and go play in the dirt." Brennan smiled at the image of big, bad Booth playing in the dirt. "Did I answer your question?" Brennan nodded. "Good, my question. What is your biggest fear?"

"My biggest fear?" Brennan had her hands clasped in her lap, and dropped her eyes to look at them. _My biggest fear,_ she repeated to herself. _That's a tough one._ "I guess that would be…um…being alone. Being left again. The way my parents left." She looked up at Booth and he nodded understandingly. "Anyhow, I guess I need to leave you so you can get back to work."

"Naw," he said, closing the folder on his desk. "I'm through for the night. Let me buy you dinner or a drink. Or both." Brennan stood and smiled.

"Ok."

* * *

_I said this chapter would be a little more fluffy. I hope that you all liked the chapter. And are you all keeping track of the questions? There'll be a pop quiz at the end! ;-)_

_Keep the reviews coming. You are all so nice. I'm glad that you are liking this so far._

_"Be still my beating heart"_

_TBC-Chapter 5_


	5. Don't be embarrassed

**Gosh, gee, thanks for all th reviews. They mean sooooo much to me. I'm so glad that you all like my first fanfic. **

**As promised, this chapter has a little more fluff in it, but don't get use to get. Chapter 6 is shaping up not to have much- sorry.**

**Hope you all enjoy Chapter 5.**

* * *

Dr. Temperance Brennan stole a glance at the handsome FBI agent seated across the table from her. Seeley Booth had been usually quiet since they entered the restaurant. Their orders had been taken five minutes before, and now he sat with his hands wrapped around his drink, staring into the dark liquid. "Are you ok, Booth?" Brennan asked. "You've been awfully silent since we've been here." Booth brought his glass to his lips and took a drink. The alcohol burned its way down his throat.

"Yeah, Dr. Brennan," he said. He was determined not to call her Bones again until she asked. _And she will ask_. "I'm okay, just got a lot on my mind."

"The case?" Booth shook his head.

"More like that _partner_. I'm still trying to figure out why they stuck me with her."

"I don't know, maybe they just…just wanted you to be safe."

"Safe? What, you going to flip out one day and beat the crap out of me?" Booth said it with a smile, letting Brennan now that he was teasing.

"You never know," she answered. "But I was thinking more like Weasley is FBI and she carries a gun. She's _got your back_." Booth raised an eyebrow.

"That doesn't sound like your words."

"Hodgins," she said simply.

"Ah. Should have known. And as far as the gun thing, I don't think that makes any different. I feel safer with you at my back then than with Weasley and a gun." Brennan felt the familiar heat spread across her face. "I do mean that," Booth said. He put down his drink and reached across the table. His hand closed over hers. "I do trust you." Brennan's first response was to jerk her hand back, but she stayed calm, and for once enjoyed his touch.

"I know," she said, a little more breathless than she would have liked. "I trust you too." She brought her eyes up and looked into his. _They're so dark and deep that a person could lose themselves,_ she thought to herself. Booth gave her a big smile, and then pulled his hand away. Brennan took a deep breath, held it for a minute and the released.

"I don't know, Dr. Brennan," he started.

"Would you stop that," Brennan snapped.

"Stop what?" he asked, keeping his face straight.

"You know what. Calling me doctor. It's driving me _crazy_." Booth couldn't hold it in any longer. His deep laugh filled the air around them. "You've been doing that on purpose," she accused.

"You're the one who wanted to try it, remember? Back at my office." Brennan held her hands out, palms toward him.

"I remember, but just stop."

"I don't know, _Bones_, there's just got to be something more to everything. Do you think Goodman had anything to do with it?" Right at that moment, their food showed up, so Brennan didn't answer right away. She wanted until the waiter left, and they had taken a few bites.

"I don't think so, Booth. Goodman doesn't seem to mind our partnership. After all, he has helped us a few times. No, the order had to come from higher up in the line." Booth nodded.

"Yeah, Cullen said that too. That the order was from higher up. What gets me though, is why are they interested in me? I'm just an ordinary FBI agent."

"Ordinary?" Brennan choked out. "You are anything but ordinary, Booth. You're good at your job. You get results. The higher ups would have to be dumb _not_ to be interested in you." Brennan noticed that a touch of red crept into his cheeks, and she smiled at the fact.

They ate the rest of their meal without talking. Both focused on their own thoughts. "Maybe it's just the case," Brennan finally said, once she had pushed her plate away.

"The case?"

"Yeah, you said that strings got pulled. That's how it became an FBI matter, right? Well, maybe that's why Weasley came into the picture."

"To keep an eye on me," Booth finished. "Of course. That makes a lot of sense, Bones. There could be more involved to this then just a missing boy and a corpse. See," he said, "that's why we make a good pair." Brennan smiled.

Booth paid for their meals, and the twosome walked out of the restaurant, and headed towards Booth black SUV. "Thank you for dinner, Booth."

"No problem. I always enjoy the company." They both got in and Booth started the car.

"Mind dropping off my place?" she asked.

"Do you even have to ask?" Booth gave her a wink, and then headed the SUV towards her home.

Brennan looked out of the passage window as Booth weaved the car through the streets. She glanced up at the sky, and felt somewhat of a loss when she didn't see any stars. Storm clouds had moved in and now the sky was blank of any stars and the moon. Brennan let out a small sigh, and leaned her forehead against the cool glass. Booth peeked over at his partner. _She looks tried_, he thought to himself. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"Uh-ha," she mumbled. Booth shook his head, and left her to her thoughts.

By the time Booth pulled to a stop and shut off the engine, Brennan had her eyes closed. "Bones," he said, reaching over to put a hand on her shoulder. "Bones, you awake." Brennan nodded her head, but didn't open her eyes. Booth smiled. He got out and walked around the car. He slowly opened the door, putting a hand up to steady Brennan in her seat. "Come on, wake up, Sleepy Bones," he said, reaching up and touching her face with the back of his fingers.

"Can't I just sleep just a few more minutes, Booth?" she asked, sleepily. Booth couldn't help but to smile.

"No, Bones, you have to wake up." He reached in and pulled her legs out of the SUV, and turned her around to face him. "If you don't wake up, I'll carry you. And I know you wouldn't like that." Brennan's eyes fluttered open. "That's my girl." Brennan ran a hand over her face, before focusing her eyes on Booth's face.

"How long have I've been asleep?" She slid out of the seat, and Booth held on to her shoulders until he was certain she was steady on her feet.

"Since we left the restaurant." Brennan took a deep breath of fresh air, before starting off toward her door. Booth shut the car door and followed her. "You should have wakened me."

"Why? You looked peaceful. I figured what could it hurt. You needed the sleep."

"Well, it's embarrassing," she complained, opening her front door and walking in.

"Embarrassing? Sleeping?"

"Falling asleep, there's a different."

"Temperance," he said, grabbing her arm, and spinning her around to face him. "We are partners. _Friends_. Don't be embarrassed." Brennan stood very still, looking into Booth's chocolate brown eyes. When he slid his hand down her arm and grabbed her hand, a shiver ran down her spine. Never braking eye contact, he brought her hand up, palm facing him, fingers in the air. "Never be embarrassed," he whispered, placing a kiss in the center of her palm. Brennan's eyes widen, and her heart skipped a beat. Booth smiled at her, his eyes becoming dark. "I need to be going," he said softly, his voice husky.

"Going…yes," Brennan repeated, her voice barely over a whisper.

"I'll see you tomorrow." Brennan watched as Booth turned and left out of her front door.

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_So, a little more fluff, right? Hope that you liked. If you could, please R&R. I have become such the little review junkie, and I need a fix. ;-)_

_Thanks for reading!_

_TBC- Chapter 6_


	6. All a setup

**My thanks to everybody who has reviewed so far. Sorry it's taken me awhile to post this new chapter. But I spent the weekend Spring cleaning. Oh, yeah, fun. Anyhoo, I really hope that you all enjoy this chappie.**

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Brennan sat at her desk staring at the case folder of Jeremy Whitman, or what was suppose to be Jeremy. Something just didn't make sense, but she couldn't put her finger on what. She needed to talk with Booth. _Where is that man,_ she thought for the hundredth time. Booth hadn't picked up his phone all day, nor had he returned any of her calls. Brennan pick up her phone, punched out his number and waited. "Booth, leave a message." Beep.

"Booth, this is Brennan. I need to talk to you about the Whitman case. Something just doesn't add up. Call me." She hung up, and went back to staring at the paper before her.

"What's up, sweetie," Angela said, with a light rap on Brennan's door jam. Brennan looked up with a frown.

"It's this case. Something is wrong." Angela walked in and sat down opposite of Temperance's desk.

"What is it? What have you found?" Brennan shook her head, and then rubbed her eyes.

"That's just it, Ange, I'm not sure. It's just…" Brennan let her thoughts drift back to the case. "Could you do me a favor?"

"Sure, anything." Brennan held up a picture of a boy and an older woman standing on a porch right in front of the door.

"This is Jeremy Whitman and his grandmother the day _before_ he went missing." Angela looked at the picture.

"Ok."

"Well, all front doors are the same height, right? Do you think you could use the Aneglator to determine Jeremy's height based on the door?"

"Sure, but I thought the report stated his numbers. Height, weight, hair color, the likes."

"It does," Brennan said, handing over the picture. "But…it's not important. Could you just do this for me?" Angela nodded and stood.

"You've got it."

Booth looked at his phone. Bones had called again. He felt terrible for not answering or returning her calls, but Weasley hadn't left his side all day. And he knew, somehow he just knew, that what Bones wanted was about the Whitman case. The case that she _wasn't_ supposes to be working on except for identifying the bones. "You're popular today," Weasley said, when Booth put his phone back in its case.

"Yup, some days are like that."

"Yet, you haven't answered any of the calls." Booth glanced up at Weasley and saw her looking at him with a suspicion look.

"Personal," he said, dropping his eyes, hoping she wouldn't keep asking. _I'm sorry, Bones, _he thought. _I'll call you as soon as I can. Promise._

Brennan sat back in her chair and let out a sigh. Booth would call when he could. She knew that. Pinching her lips together, she stood and left her office in search of Angela. It had been four hours since she had asked her favor, and Brennan was hoping that Ange had something. Brennan found her best friend in the darken room with the unique contraption, the Angelator. "Hey, Bren," Angela said.

"You have anything."

"Yup, look here." Angela put an image of Jeremy up. "Jeremy would have been 5'5" the day before he went missing."

"Interesting." Angela looked up.

"What? What's interesting?"

"Ange, you're amazing." Brennan left the room in a hurry.

"Why am I amazing?" Angela called after Brennan.

"What have you two found?" Cullen asked from the doorway of Booth's office.

"Not much," Weasley answered.

"It's hard to shift through facts," Booth started. "When this file is missing half the things."

"What are you talking about, Agent Booth?"

"Notes are missing, doctor reports gone. Interviews aren't there."

"I'm sure you are mistaken," Cullen said.

"Yeah, I figured you would say that," Booth murmured.

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that, Agent Booth."

"Yes, sir. Didn't say a thing." Cullen held his head high, and left.

"What was that about?" Weasley asked.

"What?" Booth didn't look up. He didn't want to talk to this woman. _Why don't she just go away?_

"Talking to Cullen like that? He could have suspended you."

"And what difference is that to you?"

"You're my partner, Booth. I don't want to see you in trouble." Booth's head shot up.

"Listen, Weasley, you might be my so-called-partner on this case, but don't think for one minute that it's permanent. Dr. Brennan is my partner. You look after yourself, she'll look out for me. Understand?"

"We're partners, Booth. Weather you like it or not."

"Brennan is my partner," Booth said again. "And if you don't mind, I think it's time for you to leave for the night." Weasley watched Booth for a minute, before getting up and leaving. Booth leaned back in his chair with a sigh. He glanced at his watch. 10:13 PM. He rubbed his face, stood, walked out of his office, locked the door, and left the FBI headquarter.

Brennan stepped out of her shower and wrapped a towel around her self. With another towel, she dried her hair, and then looked at her reflection in the mirror. She had been up since 5:45 that morning, and thought that it was starting to show. _Maybe Angela's right,_ she thought to herself. _Maybe I need a vacation. A real one. With no co-workers. No cases. No nothing._ Brennan gave herself a smile, then walked into her bedroom. She threw her towels on the bed, and then pulled on clean underwear, a bright red pair. "Angela would flipped," she said out loud. Brennan then put on a pair a red, satin pajama bottom, and then a matching satin, form fitting, button shirt. It was a new pajama set, and Brennan couldn't help but to think that she looked good in it. "If only somebody could see it." Suddenly, the doorbell rang. She looked at the clock. 10:39 PM. She shrugged and made her way to the front door.

"Sorry it's so late," Booth said when Brennan opened the door.

"Booth, what are you doing here?" She asked, opening the door wider so he could come in.

"I'm sorry I didn't answer your calls," he said as he walked passed, and then turned back to face her. "Weasley wouldn't leave me alone all day."

"Have a seat," Brennan said. "Can I get you anything?" Booth shook his head, as he flopped down in one of Brennan's chairs.

"I'm good."

"You figure out anything new about the Whitman case?" Brennan took a seat on the couch, pulling her bare feet up under her.

"No, nothing. The file is just missing so much. I don't know how Cullen excepts me to figure anything out."

"Well, I might have something for you."

"It's not nice to tease a man, Bones," Booth said; his eyes twinkling, making Brennan wonder if he was just talking about the case.

"The bones I have at the lab," she said. "They aren't Jeremy."

"What? How do you know?"

"The skeleton is 5'7.5" tall."

"Yeah."

"Well, the day before he went missing, Jeremy was only 5'5"."

"How could you possibly know that?"

"Simple. I found a picture of him taken the day before he went missing. I had Angela use the Angelator to compare his height to that of the door he was standing in front of."

"Bones, you are a amazing!" Brennan smiled at the compliment. "But now, who's laying there at your lab?" Brennan shrugged.

"I don't know, Booth." He stood and began to pace.

"Cullen had to know that it wasn't Jeremy. I don't care what they all say. The file was striped before it was given to me."

"Why would they do that?"

"Any number of reasons, I guess. So I wouldn't be able to identify the skele. So I couldn't solve the case."

"But they would know that I would be looking at the bones."

"Bones with no DNA. No teeth. How likely is it to identify it?"

"There's always a way, Booth."

"It's not just the skele, Bones. It's the fact that I've looked into Weasley and nobody has ever heard of her."

"What?"

"It's like she appeared right before the case got handed to me."

"Then maybe," Brennan started. "Maybe it's all a setup."

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_Please feel free to review. It makes me happy. Sorry there's not alot of action in this here chapter, but sometimes you just have to have talk. Lots of talk._

_TBC- Chapter 7_


	7. That's what friends do

**Sorry it's been so long since my last update. Things have been busy! I know, that's no excuse, but that's what you get. Thanks to everybody who has reviewed up to this point.**

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The words seem to hang in the air. "A setup?" Booth repeated, as he froze in half step. "You mean a conspiracy." Brennan gave a small laugh.**

"You sound like Hodgins."

"Me? You're the one who spoke his catch word."

"No, I said 'setup'," Brennan argued. "_You_ said conspiracy." Booth ran a hand through his hair and shook his head.

"It doesn't matter what you call it," he said, pulling their attention back to the discussion and not their argument. "Why do you think it's a consp…um...setup?"

"What are the facts, Booth?"

"Well," he said, resuming his pacing. "For starters, this Agent Weasley woman doesn't seem to exist. I'm told not to discuss this case with you, except for the skeleton."

"I didn't know you weren't allowed to even discuss it," Brennan interrupted.

"It's not important," he dismissed with a wave of his hand.

"Not important? You could get in serious trouble if Cullen finds out."

"Can we _please_ stick to the issue?" Booth asked. "You know, this whole setup idea. That, may I add, is _your _idea."

"Sorry," Brennan said sheepishly. Booth let out a heavy sigh, before he continued.

"The case file has been striped of everything that could possibly be useful. The original FBI agent is currently trekking across Italy with no way of contacting him."

"The bones that were recovered," Brennan started, taking over Booths list. "They don't belong to the Whitman kid. Cullen seems to dismiss the fact the file has been tempered with." Booth stopped pacing.

"I think we just might be on to something."

"But why would anybody want to set you up, Booth? Have you ticked someone off?" Booth couldn't help but to smile.

"You can't be a _G-man_," he said, "and not tick someone off sooner-or-later."

"Someone high enough to set this in motion? Someone who would want you to fail? To make you look bad?" Booth dropped into a chair, and stretched his legs out.

"I don't know, Tempe," he said seriously. "Between what I did in the service and what I've done with the FBI, I don't know how many people would want to see me fail." He looked up at her, and she saw the confusion and pain in his eyes. The memories of his past torturing him. Suddenly, she had an urge to go to him. To try and smooth the anguish. She wanted to hold him until the hurt went away. _That's what friends do,_ she thought to herself.

"Can I ask you something?" Brennan asked softly. Booth nodded.

"Only if it counts towards one of your questions?" He saw the corners of her mouth turn up in a small smile.

"Do you think you'll ever overcome your past?" She knew the question was hard to hear- it was hard to ask. But Brennan thought that she had worded it right. Not asking about his past, but about overcoming it. She watched him in silence as he thought. His legs were still out in front of him, and he took his hands, locked his fingers and placed they at the back of his head. She watched as he let his eyelids drift shut, and she knew that he was reliving something in his past. Something that still hunted his dreams- both sleeping and awake. Finally he took a deep breath and released it in a weighty sigh.

"You know," he begun, eyes still closed. "I try not to think about my past too much. I did some horrid things that I'm not proud of." He stopped, and Brennan waited. "I had some things done to me, things that shouldn't be done to anybody." Again he stopped, and again she waited. Booth didn't talk about his past often, and Brennan didn't want to push him. He was understanding about her past, and she wanted to gave him the same respect. He took a ragged breath.

"That's good enough, Booth," she told him, but he continued.

"I have nightmares that wake me up in a cold sweat. Images that shake me to my core. Will I ever overcome it?" Booth opened his eyes and Brennan saw that they were dark with regret. "I can only say that I hope and pray that one day I will. And until then, I can only try to make up for the things I've done." For a moment nothing was said. They just sat there, in silence, watching each other. They both knew that this was a huge step for them. Their relationship was changing- evolving – into something more than a partnership and deeper than a friendship. Brennan gave Booth a small smile to let him know that she understood. Not his past, she would never insult him by saying that she understood that, but she did understand that something was shifting between them.

"Ok, my turn," Booth said, breaking the silence. "What is one thing that you would love to try at least once?" Brennan cocked her mouth to one side in thought.

"You like asking me questions I have to think about, don't you?" Booth laughed.

"And like you haven't been asking the same kind of question." He waited, and watched, while Brennan thought. She still had her bare feet tucked up under her; her hair hung loosely around her face. He couldn't help but to smile.

"Well, believe it of not, I would love to go fishing."

"Fishing?" Booth stared in disbelief.

"Yeah, you know, when you put a hook in the water and a fish bites it."

"There _is_ a little more to it than that, Bones. There's tackle and technique and patience."

"And I suppose you know this from experience?" Brennan asked.

"You would be supposing right," Booth said with a nod. "Use to fish when I was a kid. In fact, I have a friend who has a great boat. If you want, one day I'll take you out and teach you."

"You will?"

"Of course, Bones. That's what friends do."

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_Thanks for reading. I hope that you like this chapter. Please feel free to R&R!_

_Happy Easter!_

_Wolfy_


	8. I'm always careful

**Thanks to every body who has R&R. It totally means a lot. **

**Legal stuff: I don't own the characters of Dr. Temperance Brennan, Special Agent Seeley Booth, or any other character developed by the legal owners of "BONES" or the books in which BONES are based on. **

**I did use my creative license to create new characters and situations.**

**A/N: I make some comments and insults about Chihuahuas. You know, the little dogs with a big mouth? Please don't write me insulting _me_ for insulting _them_. I have two Chihuahuas…they are my favorite dogs. I use in this chapter the normal thoughts about these dogs, but also _my_ thoughts about these great little pups. And yes, people come to my door and take a step back when my dogs start to bark. They will take other two steps back when they see my dogs are big, bad Chihuahuas. **

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The room once again fell quiet. Booth had closed his eyes, and Brennan watched him carefully. It felt odd having him in her home. The one place that she didn't have to answer to anybody, or give orders or get bombarded with pop culture references that she didn't understand. Yes, it was odd having him in her sanctuary, but not at all uncomfortable. _Why is that?_ she thought to herself. _Why don't I feel awkward having Booth relaxing in my living room? Stretched out in one of my chairs?_ Brennan dropped her eyes, and pondered the questions. Suddenly the silence was broken by a loud growl. Drawing her brows together, she asked, "Was that your stomach?" Booth nodded. "Are you hungry?" Again, he nodded. "When was the last time you ate?"

"Oh, about 1 o'clock." Brennan glanced over at her clock and quickly did the math.

"Booth! That was over ten hours ago." Booth opened one eye and looked at his watch. 11:06.

"Yup." Brennan stood up in a huff.

"And you fuss at me for not eating during the day," she scolded on her way to the kitchen. "And here you are doing the same thing." Booth stretched his arms up over his head and yawned. He looked over his shoulder and watched Brennan go through her refrigerator.

"What are you doing?" he asked standing up. Brennan shot him a "duh" look over the refrigerator.

"Finding something for you to eat."

"Bones, you don't have to do that. I'll just pick up something on my way home."

"Nonsense," she said, standing up with an arm full of ingredients. "You like omelets, right?" Booth took and let out a breath before nodding.

"Yeah, I do omelets." He took a seat at her small dinette table, and watched as his partner cooked. Soon Brennan was placing a plate in front of him with a large omelet on it. She then pulled a glass from the cabinet and poured in milk. She sat down opposite of him, and sat down the glass. "This is really good, Bones," he said between mouthful.

"What? Did you think I couldn't cook?" Brennan teased.

"Never really thought about it, really."

"Do you think Cullen has anything to do with this setup?" Booth shook his head.

"I'm through talking about the case. Ask me something else." Brennan sat quietly, and watched Booth eat.

"What is one fear you have that is unfounded?"

"Unfounded? I don't think that's a fair question, Bones. To me, all my fears are founded in fact."

"Oh, come on, Seeley, I've answered your weird and unfair questions." Booth stood, picked up his plate and rinsed it.

"Well," he started as he sat back down. "I don't like Chihuahuas."

"Chihuahuas?" Brennan asked.

"Yeah, those little loud mouth nippers. What?" Brennan had put a hand to her mouth to try and hide a smile.

"They what, average about 4 to 6 pounds, and you're afraid of them?"

"You asked for an unfounded fear. Well, there you have it. I don't like Chihuahuas. They're noisy, and they bite at everything, and they shake and they have this high pitch bark and they're just weird little mutts."

"I knew a girl in college who had two 'weird little mutts'", Brennan said. "I think they're cute. One was a big short hair. She weighed 11 pounds. The other one was this little long hair girl. She weighed in at 6 pounds." Brennan shrugged. "I've even thought about getting one when I was fresh out of school."

"You can like them all you want, doesn't mean I have too." Booth finished his glass of milk, and then looked at his watch. 11:41. "I guess I need to be going."

"Yeah, it is pretty late." Booth rinsed out his glass before heading to the door. "Are you coming by the lab tomorrow?"

"Afraid not," he said with a slow shake of his head. He opened the door and then turned back toward Brennan. "I'm not suppose to be talking to you about anything other than the bones, remember? Anyway, I don't want to bring Weasley back around."

"I suppose she's nice enough," Brennan started, but Booth held up a hand to stop her.

"She's the enemy, Bones. She's not _nice enough_. See what else the bones tell you, ok? We must have missed something. After all, they have to belong to somebody, right?" Brennan nodded.

"And how am I suppose to figure out who?"

"You're the bone doctor, Bones, not me." Booth smiled as she rolled her eyes. "I have faith in you."

"I'll try me best, Booth, but I can't promise anything."

"I know, I know. Why don't I pick up some food and come over tomorrow night? We can go over anything we might find." Booth had stepped backwards through the threshold and felt the warm air wrap around his body.

"Sounds good." Booth turned to leave. "Seeley," she called and he turned back around. "Be careful." He gave her a smile.

"I'm always careful, Tempe."

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_Sorry this chapter is so short. Chapter 9 is longer...Promise._

_Feel free to R&R...it feeds my addiction. evil grin_

_TBC- Chapter Nine_


	9. A little too convenient

**A/N: I would like to say a very big "Thank you" to Bella-mi-amore, for giving me the great idea of Booth and Brennan sleeping together…but not. grins You'll see what I mean. Thanks again, Bella-mi-amore! See, I do listen to my "fans". I also have a BIG Imagination.**

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Special Agent Seeley Booth made his way into FBI headquarters. It was 5:15 AM and the halls were more or less deserted. Booth wanted an early start. He had a lot to do. He was still investigating the bones found at the park. The bones that were _suppose_ to be Jeremy Whitman, but he knew better. _So who is the skeleton at Brennan's lab?_ he asked himself. _And why doesn't Cullen seem to be upset that half the case file is missing? And why can't I find any information out about this Weasley person?_ Booth let out a heavy sigh. Something was going on, and he was determined to find out what. "Agent Booth." Booth did an about face and found Cullen standing there. 

"Yes, sir."

"May I have a word with you." Cullen turned and Booth followed him into his office. He scanned the room and wasn't surprised to find Weasley standing near Cullen's desk. Cullen leaned back on the desk and crossed his arms over his chest. "It's been brought to my attention that you have looked into Agent Weasley's past. Is that true?"

"Yes, sir." Booth wasn't going to lie about a fact that his boss already knew.

"And may I ask why?"

"It's simple, really. I'm not familiar with Weasley past cases or anything. So I decided to check it out. You know, I wanted to see how many cases she worked that were solved. Why was she assigned to this unit? What experience does she have to qualify her to work here. To work with me? And to work with the Dr. Brennan and her team?" Cullen nodded.

"Agent Weasley, would you excuse us for a moment."

"But, sir," she started.

"Thank you." Weasley looked from Cullen to Booth before walking out of the office. "Please shut the door." Booth did as Cullen asked. "Did you find any answers to your questions, Agent Booth?"

"A few, sir." Cullen walked around his desk and took a seat.

"I am suppose to tell you," Cullen began. "That you are not allowed to look into Weasley's past."

"But sir, I have a right," Booth let his sentence trail off when Cullen held up a hand.

"Again, Booth, I am _suppose_ to tell you not to look into Weasley's past." Booth pushed his shoulders back.

"Yes, sir."

"Good, you're free to go." Booth turned to leave. "One thing, Seeley," Cullen said, as Booth put his hand on the knob to open the door. _Cullen never calls me Seeley_, he said to himself. "Don't let it interfere with the Whitman case." Booth opened the door and left.

Dr. Temperance Brennan sat at her desk staring at her computer screen. She wasn't writing on her new book, or even researching for a paper that she was writing. No, she was playing detective. As soon as Zack had showed up, she put him to work going over every bone that was suppose to be Jeremy. Angela was hard at work trying to put a face on the skull, and Jack wasn't in yet. Brennan scanned page after page. Granted, she wasn't sure what she was looking for, but she felt she had to do something. "You wanted to see me," a voice said from her doorway. Brennan looked up to find Jack standing there.

"Yes, please come in. And shut the door behind you." Jack looked at her with his brows drew together, but did as he was told.

"Am I in some sort of trouble?" he asked as he took a seat.

"No, of course not," Brennan started. "I need your help on something. Something that is top priority and doesn't leave this room. Understood?" Jack rubbed his hands together as a smile spread across his face.

"Ah, some sort of conspiracy."

"Do you understand? I'm not joking Hodgins. This doesn't leave this room. If you talk to anyone about this, then you'll be looking for other job. And I don't care how good you are." Jacks eyes widen. Brennan never threatens, so he knew this was serious.

"You have my word." Brennan took in a deep breath then let it out through her nose.

"Good. I need for you to talk with some of your conspiracy friends and visit those websites that you like to go to. I need information about FBI Agent Daina Weasley."

"Isn't that Booth's new partner?" Jack asked.

"Think you can do that for me?"

"Yeah, of course. Give me a few hours."

"Thanks Jack."

Booth flipped open his phone. "Booth."

"Seeley, this is Richard." Booth looked up from the papers in front of him.

"Richard, please tell me you have something."

"Only if you agree that you owe me one."

"Come on, Rich, you know as well as I do that the reason you did this for me was the fact the you owed me a favor." Booth could almost see his old Army buddy shrug.

"If was worth a try, ah, Bud."

"What did you find out?" Booth listened as Richard went over the information that he was able to find out.

"Sorry, Seeley, but that's as far as I could go. My access was denied after that."

"Hey, man, that's more than what I had." Booth hung up from Richard and looked at his watch. 8:28. He didn't tell Bones what time he would be over, but he knew that he should be heading over there. He still had to stop by Wong Foo's to pick up dinner. He quickly put all the papers on his desk into a manila folder. He walked out of his office, pulling his door closed behind him.

"Booth," Weasley called as he started down the hall.

"I'm in a bit of a hurry."

"Heading over to the lab to talk with Dr. Brennan?" Booth glanced over at the woman that had taken up pace with him.

"No, I'm heading out to pick up some dinner."

"I think I'll join you, we have some things to talk about."

"Umm, yeah, I think you misunderstood. I'm having a working dinner."

"Ah, I see. Then I'll tell you what I've found out. It seems that Jeremy was seen talking to a man two days before he disappeared."

"Why wasn't that in the report?" Weasley shrugged.

"I don't know. But witness said they remembered that Jeremy seemed nervous. That he tried multiple times to cross the street but the man kept asking questions."

"That all?"

"For now. I've got an appointment tomorrow to go talk with a lady who claims she saw the man the day Jeremy went missing." Weasley turned and began to walk the other direction.

"Agent Booth," Cullen said, as Booth walked by his office.

"Yes, sir." Cullen held up a folder.

"I think you might want to read through this." Booth walked into the office and took the folder. He opened it up and flipped through the pages.

"But how?"

"It seemed to have shown up on my desk after lunch." Booth nodded, put the folder with his other one and left.

Brennan sat on the floor looking at papers that she had spread out in front of her. There was just too much stuff to process. Her team had really come through today and she was proud. Brennan sat back, and rubbed the back of her neck. Booth would be pleased with everything she was able to discover. _And speaking of Booth, I hope he shows up soon, I'm hungry._ She looked up with a knock came to her door. Smiling, she stood and walked over and opened the door. "Sorry it's so late," Booth said. "But I did bring food."

"Great, I'm starving." Booth walked in and noticed the papers. "At least you don't bring home skeletons."

"They won't let me take them out of the lab." Brennan walked back to the papers and dropped to her knees. "I think I have some information that may come in handy." Booth sunk to the floor, and put the food next to him.

"What were you able to find out?" Booth pasted her one of the plates from Wong Foo's and opened the other one for himself.

"Well, I had Zack look over the bones again," she started, opening up her plate and taking in the smell. "Umm, this smells good."

"Sid always knows what to serve, doesn't he?" Brennan nodded, and took a bite.

"Anyhow, like I was saying. I had Zack look at the bones again."

"And what did he find out?"

"Well, between analyzing the bones and the dirt that came in with them, he determined that the bones had only been in the ground for about 16 months."

"Okay, well, you figured out the bones aren't Jeremy, so that's possible."

"About that," Brennan said, pulling a sheet of paper from a nearby folder. "Angela was able to give us a picture of what the boy would have looked like." She handed Booth the picture. He looked at the sketch and shook his head.

"This can't be right," he said. "This is Jeremy. I thought you said."

"I know, what I said. But Angela is the best at what she does. Those bones are Jeremy."

"But, Zack said the bones had only been in the ground for 16 months. Jeremy went missing over two years ago." Brennan took another bite of her food.

"Maybe whoever took him kept him alive."

"I guess that could've happened." Booth finished off his food and put the plate back into the bag. "What else do you have?"

"Well," Brennan said. "I had Hodgins use his conspiracy ideas to look into the past of Weasley."

"You know you just feed his addiction, right?" Brennan nodded.

"I know, but who better to look into this?"

"And what did our own resident Mulder find out?"

"I don't know what that means. Who's Mulder?" Booth's mouth turned up in a smile.

"It doesn't matter," he said. "What did Hodgins found out?"

"Didn't really find out much."

"I didn't think he would. I had an old Army buddy dig around a little, but his access got denied. So, he found out as much as Hodgins." Booth took Brennan's now empty plate and put it in the bag with his. "Oh, I had a little chat with Cullen this morning. Apparently, Weasley found out about me looking into her past and went and told Cullen."

"What did Cullen have to say?"

"Not much. Can I grab something to drink?" Brennan nodded. Booth stood and walked over to her refrigerator. He eyed it carefully before reaching a hand out to open it. He pulled out to bottle of beer and walked back to where Brennan sat, handing one to her.

"Thanks." Booth opened his bottle and took a drink.

"Cullen asked me a few questions in front of Weasley and then sent her away. He told me that I wasn't supposed to look into her past. That he was _suppose_ to tell me that. Guess that was a warning to make sure I do this outside of work." Booth picked up one of the two folders that he had brought. "Cullen found this on his desk when he got back from lunch." Booth handed over the folder. "It has a complete history of Weasley," he said, as Brennan flipped through it. "From where she was born, went to school. What sports she played in college. It has a list of case histories and says that she spent some time overseas."

"This is all a little too…convenient, isn't it?" Brennan asked, handing the folder back.

"I would say so." Booth took another drink of his beer. "Mine if I sit on the couch? This floor is gettin' too hard after being up since 4:30."

"Why on earth were you up that early?" Brennan asked, as she stood and picked up their trash bag.

"I wanted to get a jump start on the day." Booth sat down on the couch and pulled off his shoes. "It's not everyday that I have two very different cases to work on."

"Two?" Brennan picked up some of the papers that they hadn't been over yet, and took a seat next to him.

"Sure, there's the Jeremy Whitman case that I'm suppose to be working on with Weasley. And then there's the Weasley case that I'm working on with you. But I guess, you're working on the Whitman case too, just nobody knows that."

"Speaking of the Whitman case, what's our next move?"

"Well, Weasley is going to go met with a woman who claims she saw Jeremy talking to a man the day he disappeared and the same man a few days before. None of that was in the case file I was handed, but since half of it was gone." Booth finished with a shrug.

"So what, this man could have taken Jeremy and kept him for a year before killing him?"

"Naw, that doesn't sound right to me." Booth turned so his back was in the corner of the couch, crossed his ankles and laid an arm across the back.

"Why don't you just make yourself comfortable," Brennan teased.

"Thanks, I think I will. Ok, so what else do we have?" Brennan took a breath and then as readjusted herself. She turned her back to Booth and lean against him; her legs stretched out so that her feet were propped up on the arm of the couch. The moved surprised Booth, but he didn't complained. This position let him see the papers that she held and let him feel the warmth of her body.

"I just can't help but thinking that the skeleton isn't Jeremy."

"But Angela did her thang, and the picture shows him."

"I know, but…I just have this…_feeling_."

"Thought you didn't go on feelings, Bones?"

"Normally I don't, but the science just doesn't seem right."

"Is it possible that the skele isn't Jeremy, but the skull is?" Brennan shook her head.

"No, the skull goes with the rest of the bones. No doubt." Booth laid his head back and closed his eyes. He knew that Brennan was thinking, and he didn't want to interrupt. Anyhow, sitting here with her so closed, smelling her scent, made him relax, and the more he relaxed the more sleep called to him. "Maybe," he heard Brennan say.

"Maybe what, Bones?"

"Maybe whoever the boned belong to _looks_ like Jeremy. That's why Angela sketch looked like him."

"But Jeremy only has one brother, and he's alive and well," Booth said, not opening his eyes. Brennan pulled the picture from the back of the pile and stared at it. _Something just doesn't make sense,_ she thought. _I just can't put my finger on it._ She dropped her head back so that it rested on Booth's chest. _How could this skeleton look like Jeremy and not be him, if he only had one brother?_ She felt the weight of sleep tug at her eyelids. _There could be more than one brother. But wouldn't Booth have found proof of that?_ She let her eyes closed. _What if the skeleton was_…the thought drifted off as sleep took hold.

* * *

_Told you this chapter would be longer. So, did you like? Please R&R. I'm already working on chapter 10, so hopefully that'll be up later today or tomorrow. Depends on how fast I write._

TBC- Chapter 10


	10. Will you take my hand?

**I told you I would try to have chapter 10 up today. And here it is. **

**A/N: Ok, Booth and Brennan may be a little OOC, but please forgive me. You see, this chapter has alot of thinking in it and not alot of talking. I'm not going to tell you anything more. **

**I really hope you enjoy.**

* * *

Booth stood in a field of flowers breathing in the sweet fragrance that floated on the warm air. Booth knew this field. He had visited it many times in his dreams and he knew what was to come. Even in the deepest realm of sleep, somewhere his conscious mind was awake. And in that conscious part, Booth knew that this was the beginning of a nightmare. A nightmare that haunted him, and would eventually wake him up. Yet, until that point, he couldn't stop the dream. Sometimes he thought that he didn't want too. This field that he stood in was the perfect memory of a place where he use to picnic with his family when he was a child. He often woke up in a cold sweat, cursing God for taking such a good recollection and making it evil and dark. 

Booth glanced up at the sun as it hung in the flawless blue sky. White fluffy clouds glided by in shapes of ice cream cones and bunny rabbits. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. _Yes_, he thought. _Until the nightmare starts I don't want to wake up. I enjoy being here_. _I take pleasure in reliving this part of my past._ Suddenly the sound of water caught his attention. _Ah, yes, there was a stream that we use to play in_. He started off toward the sound. Still fully aware that at any moment the demons would shoe up. That the peaceful sky would become dark with storm clouds and thunder would clash and lighting would rip through the darkness.

Yet, right now all was calm, and Booth smiled. He made his way toward the small stream, and could feel the coolness of the water already on his skin. He let out a sigh as he remembered how much fun he had in that stream with his parents laying on a blanket watching. Yet he knew what was waiting for him when he made it to the brook now. Old enemies would emerge; the water dripping from them red as blood. Their eyes would be black and hollow and their only mission was to kill him. Booth shivered at the knowledge. This nightmare never changed. It was always the same and it always hung a gloom over him for days afterward. _So why don't I wake myself up?_ he thought. _If I know how it ends, why don't I demand myself to open my eyes._ "Because in a way this is what you think you deserve," a voice answered. "To be tortured for what you did. To remember the things that you saw that you could not stop. This is your own prison that you created for yourself." _No, _he answered. _Why would I do this to myself? Why would I make myself relive time and time again the things I so desperately want to forget?_ "Because," said the voice. "Because you feel guilty for what you've done. You seek forgiveness, yet you put yourself through the punishment that you think you deserve. You are afraid to let yourself receive God's pardon until _you_ are satisfied that you deserve it." Booth thought about the words. Was that what he was doing? Asking for forgiveness, but proving that he wasn't ready to receive it? Did he feel that he didn't deserve it?

Booth neared the stream. A gentle flow of water that seemed to calm his soul and slow his heart. For a moment he let himself believe that this dream would go on. That the nightmare wouldn't come and that he would get some peace. A loud bang cause him to look up. The sky was already becoming dark, and a cold breeze swirled around him. His heart quickened its pace and Booth felt sweat form at his hairline. _No,_ he silently called out. _No, please, just let me have a night of restful sleep!_ He heart pounded against with ribcage as the water before him started to boil. He knew what was coming. _Wake up, Seeley! Please, oh, please wake up!_ Booth began to back away from the water as the first of many enemies began to surface. _Wake up, damn you!_

A brush against his skin. Booth looked down at his arm. Something had brushed against him. But what? _What other evils can be added?_ His head snapped up as the sound of the boiling water ceased. The stream had returned to its calm state. _What's going on?_ He quickly looked at the sky, which had become blue again. All traces of the brewing storm gone. Around him the birds began to sing and the air again became warm.

Something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye, and he turned to his left. Someone was coming toward him. Booth prepared himself, and began to walk in the direction of the approaching figure. As he got closer, he noticed that the figure was a woman. Her hair was hanging loosely around her face, and butterflies were circling her with their magic. He continued to walk slowly until the woman's identity could be seen. _Bones?_

Brennan smiled at him as they came to a stop before each other. She was wearing a light blue sundress. _Like the one I saw the other week, _he thought. _I remember thinking that she would look good in it. Not that she would ever wear something like it. But it would- does- bring out her eyes. _Booth didn't know what else to do other than stare. Standing before him was Tempe Brennan- his colleague, his partner, and probably his best friend- wearing a beautiful sundress and smiling at him through long lashes. "You can't keep torturing yourself, Seeley," she said. "You have to start letting things go. You're making amends, but you won't forgive yourself." Booth blinked.

"I don't know how to forgive myself, Tempe," he said. "I don't know what to do." Brennan's smile became wider and she held out her hand.

"That's why I'm here. To help you in you quest." Booth looked down at the offered hands and then up to her eyes; which were soft and warm.

"You drove the evil away, didn't you?" he asked.

"No," she answered, shaking her head. "You did. I just help give you the strength. Will you take my hand?" Again Booth looked down at the offered hand. He knew that by taking it that he was accepting not only Brennan's help, but also the fact that she would always be part of him. He slowly returned her smile, and took the offered helping hand.

* * *

Brennan shifted positions, causing her to brush up against an arm. Somewhere in her mind she was aware of the fact, but couldn't-or wouldn't-wake herself up. She was standing on an outcrop of rocks that over looked the ocean. _Just like the picture 'Wander above a sea of fog', but without the fog,_ she thought. She took a deep breath and the smell of salt assaulted her nose. Above her sea gulls danced on the breeze. Brennan stood there and watched as the water crashed on the rocks, making a sound similar to thunder. This dream wasn't unfamiliar to her. She had had it many times in her life, but it was always that same. She would stand here, watching the ocean and wondering about problems in her life. She often stood thinking about how her life would be different if her parents hadn't disappeared. _How would my life be better?_ she thought. She had come up with all kinds of answers to that question throughout her life, yet none of them gave her any comfort.

The sudden call of a sea gull pulled her attention upward. The bright full moon cast it's light down upon her, and thousands of stars spotted the mid-night blue sky. Each one a pinhole of light; some were even twinkling like they were dancing. She smiled as she remembered Booths words about twinkling stars being loved ones winking from beyond. _Not that I believe that, _she quickly told herself. _But I can see why some people do._ She dropped her gaze to the ocean and wonders for a brief moment about the hidden treasures that lay below the surface. _Why the ocean?_ She had often wondered that. Not that she had anything against the sea, but it had never been one of her favorite places, yet she would dream about it frequently. Standing on rocks watching the ever-changing wave pattern.

A wind swirled around her, bringing with it a familiar smell. It wasn't the water or anything to do with the ocean or beach, but she knew it. But from where? Brennan turned the corners of her mouth down in a slight frown, before letting her thoughts wonder. Again, she thought about her parents, and the deep desire to know what happened to them. Why had they left? Where they alive? And again, how her life would have been better.

Brennan closed her eyes briefly as an odd feeling came over her. A feeling like someone had wrapped an arm around her, then the sound of a soft footstep caused her to turn. A man had stepped onto the rocks with her. The shadows over his face kept her from seeing who it was. "Who are you?" she asked, suddenly nervous about a new and strange figure being in her dream.

"Would your life be better if your parents had been there to raise you?" the man asked, and again Brennan caught a light whiff of the scent from earlier.

"Yes," she answered. "I would have turned out differently. Maybe even normal." The man continued to walk toward her, coming to a stop less than two feet from her. "Booth?" Quickly she placed the smell. It was _his_ smell. "What are you doing here?" Booth smiled his smile at her, and she felt her knees become weak. Now that he was close, she noticed that he wear black pants and a white shirt. _The perfect spilt of good and evil,_ she thought. _If I believed in such things,_ she quickly added.

"And what's wrong with how you turned out?" Brennan watched him in silence for a moment before answering.

"I'm not like everybody else. I'm bitter, and angry, and just plain mad that they were taken away."

"All feelings you have a right to feel," he said, softly. "But if they had been there, you wouldn't be who you are today. Would you have had such an interest in science? Would you have become a forensic anthropologist? Would you be so dedicated to solving crimes? Finding out the truth?" Brennan thought about his questions.

"I would like to think so," she answered.

"Would you have had a need to?" She shook her head.

"I see what you're saying. That without the need to solve their disappearance, then I might have perused other options." Booth nodded his head.

"As painful as your life was after they were gone, it made you who you are today. You ask yourself 'how would my life have been better', but have you ever asked 'how would my life be worst?"

"Ok, other than the fact that I might not have been an anthropologist, how can my life be worst?" Booth raised an eyebrow.

"For starters, you wouldn't be friends with Angela." Brennan dropped her eyes.

"Ange is my best friend. I don't want to think of a world where I didn't know her."

"You wouldn't have been there as inspiration for Zack."

"He's a brilliant young man and I'm glad to be his teacher."

"Hodgins respects you more than you know," Booth continued. "He puts aside his conspiracy theories when you ask, making him an even better scientist."

"Yeah," Brennan started. "But Angela would have another best friend, Zack would have a different mentor and Hodgins would most likely still be Hodgins without me there."

"If you weren't who you are then we wouldn't be friends-partners." Brennan brought her eyes up to meet his. She swallowed hard. "It's okay to be angry about the hand that you've been dealt, Tempe, but don't think that your life would be better any other way. You want to know what happened, and that's fine. But would you really want to change the past?" They stood there, staring at each other. The nature playing them a melody.

"I guess that everything in our lives help make us who we are," she finally said softly.

"Indeed, and we both have things that we want to change and things that we want to forget," Booth told her. "But without all those things, we wouldn't be who we are."

"And if we weren't who we are, then we wouldn't be friends," Brennan finished and Booth nodded. He held out his hand.

"Will you take my hand, Bones?" he asked. "Will you help me along then same way I want to help you?" Brennan looked down at the out stretched hand and then up to his eyes. "You know that we can't do this without each other," he said. "It goes beyond friendship. It's deeper and it's something neither one of us can understand. But you know as well as I do, that we are in this together." Brennan closed her eyes for a moment, and when she opened them she looked up at the sky. A smile touched her lips when a shooting star arched across above her. That was her answer. She looked back at Booth, and reached out and took his hand.

* * *

Booth smiled in his sleep as his arm tightened around the warm mass next to him. He could hardly remember a slumber without nightmares or ever having slept so peaceful. The warmth to his side let out a soft sigh. Brennan couldn't help but to feel safe and tranquil. Feelings that she didn't have very often. She brought her hands to the arm that draped across her and gave it a tight squeeze. Never could she remember enjoying a dream so much.

* * *

_Did you like it? If you haven't figured it out, the whole chapter, except the tiny bit at the end, takes place in a dream world. I love writing about dreams because anything can happen. Please R&R. Tell me what you think. And keep an out out for chapter 11!_


	11. Special Agent Diana Weasley

**A/N: Katylar pointed out that Agent Weasley is a little…what's the word… one-dimensional. So in this chapter I hope I answer a few thing about her…and of course leave you with even more questions!**

**Not my best chapter by far, but it needed to be wrote.**

* * *

Diana Weasley walked out of the FBI building, heading toward her car. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a rubber band. Running her hands through her blond hair, she pulled her hair high on her head and used the band to secure a ponytail. A heavy sigh escaped her lips. _This isn't going very well_, she thought. Diana approached her car, and hit the button to unlock the doors. She quickly got in and started the engine. Turning the air condition on full blast to try to cool the car. Diana sucked in a breath and then let it out. _What am I going to do it they figure it out?_ She glanced over her shoulders and pulled out of the parking spot.

As she weaved in and out of traffic, Diana let her mind wander over everything she knew. _Booth is a lot smarter than I gave him credit for. Him and that doctor of his_. Diana turned left onto a quiet side street. _If they figure out my past then I'm screwed. Not only this assignment, but also probably my whole freakin' career._ Gripping the steering wheel with white knuckles, she turned into a parking lot. _I'll feel better after seeing Greg_, she thought with a smile. _I've been so busy with this case I haven't had time to see him._ Diana pulled her car into a parking spot and cut off the engine. Pulling out her cell phone, she dialed a much familiar number. She heard three rings before he picked up. "Blancher."

"Hey there, baby."

"Diana," the smooth voice said. "How are you?"

"Could be better," she said with a smile.

"Oh? And how could it be better?"

"Well, for starters, a very handsome, very sweet, very lovable guy could invite me up." A deep rumble reached her ears.

"Well, I don't know someone like that, but _I _would love to see you. Are you off for the night?"

"I sure am."

"Where are you?"

"Um…why don't you look out the window," Diana said as she got out of the car. She watched the curtain to his apartment move and the face of Greg appeared. She gave a little wave.

"Well, well, isn't this a surprise. You gonna stand out there all night, or are you coming up?"

"Thought you would never ask." She snapped her phone shut and started up toward Greg's apartment and what she knew would be a relaxing evening.

Diana gave a light tap on Greg's door, and when it opened up her breath caught in her throat. She never got tired of laying her eyes on the striking features of her longtime boyfriend. He was tall, with a muscular build that wasn't overpowering. His sandy blonde hair was close cropped, and his blue eyes were piercing. "I'm so happy to see you," Greg said, moving aside for her to enter. He closed the door, and then dropped a kiss on her lips.

"You don't know how happy I am to be here." Diana dropped her purse to the floor next the door and quickly pulled off her shoes. "This new case is driving me absolutely crazy." Greg gave a low laugh.

"I'm sure it's not that bad," he said. "Can I get you a glass of wine?"

"That would be great." She watched him walk around the counter that separated the kitchen from the living room.

"Why don't I put on some dinner? Pasta good?" Diana nodded as she pulled out a bar stool and took a seat.

"Sounds great, Greg." He sat down a glass of pink liquid in front of her then turned and started supper.

"So tell me," he began. "Why is this case driving you _crazy_?" Diana rolled her eyes.

"Four words. Special Agent Seeley Booth."

"Ah, your _partner_. Is he that bad? That dumb?" Greg put a pot of water on the stove, and turned it on. He then poured in a small amount of oil, and turned back to Diana.

"Just the opposite," she said with a groan. "He's smart. Too smart." Diana dropped her head into her hands. "I can deal with the dumb ones. The ones that never ask a question about where I came from. The ones that are more than happy to be paired with a 'cute little thing'." Diana shook her head and looked up at Greg. "What I can't handle are the smart ones. The ones that question from day one who I am."

"Now, it can't be that bad, honey," Greg said, as he went back to the stove. The water had begun to boil and he quickly emptied a box of pasta into it. Then he opened a jar of pasta sauce and poured the contents into the second pot he had placed on the stove. "After all, he's just a FBI agent, right?"

"He's not _just_ a FBI agent," Diana told Greg. "He's too blasted smart for my own good. And that bone doctor of his." She let out a low growl of frustration.

"Have you talked to colleagues?" Diana nodded.

"Sure have. Of both Booth and the doctor. I thought for sure I had something with one of Brennan's- that's the doctor, Temperance Brennan- team member. A guy named Jack Hodgins."

"Doctor Jack Hodgins?"

"You know him?" Diana was surprised by the fact.

"Not really, I met him once at some fundraiser last year. Neither one of us wanted to be there so we left early and grabbed a beer. If I remember correctly, he had a weak spot for the ladies."

"Yeah, that's what I was counting on. So I happened to _run_ into him the other night at a local bar."

"Ah, you put on the ole Weasley charm."

"Tried too, anyhow. Had a few drinks with him and you know what he talked about? Do you know what that jerk of a scientist talked about?" she almost shouted.

"What?" Diana clenched her jaw together.

"He talked about Marilyn Monroe." Greg raised an eyebrow.

"As in_ the_ MarilynMonroe? As in happy birthday mister president Monroe?"

"Yup. He talked about how she didn't take her own life. About how she was murdered and the government covered it up." Greg laughed.

"Well, I guess everybody has to have a hobby."

"Yeah, but that doesn't help me any. Nobody else will give me the time of day. All the agents respect Booth and Brennan's team is just to close to rattle." Diana watched as Greg pulled the pot of noodles off the stove and dumped them in a strainer. He raised them, and then poured them back into the pot. He put a spoonful of butter on top, and mixed until it melted.

"Tell me about this Booth guy. What's he like?"

"He was an Army Ranger. Very good at what he did. Joined the FBI and quickly become a favorite. He became the agent between the FBI and Brennan and her team last year. Booth and Brennan became an instant team. Their case history is amazing." Greg placed a plate of pasta in front of Diana.

"Impressive. What about Brennan?" Diana smiled her thanks and waited for Greg to sit down beside her.

"Brennan is a world famous forensic anthropologist. She's very good at what she does and her team is the best at what they do. Brennan is a little out of touch with the world at large but they love her and would do anything for her. And so would Booth." She took a bite of her food and licked her lips. "This is good, sweetie."

"I'm so glad you approve." Greg and Diana ate in silence. Enjoying being together. "So do you think Santos knew how hard this would be when he assigned you?"

"Yeah, I think so. But it's really not his fault. We always consider FBI a little slow. I think he knew that Booth was good, but not how good." Again, they fell into quietness until they were both finished. Then they took their wine and got comfortable on the couch.

"So what are you going to do about Booth?"

"I don't know," Diana said, shaking her head. "We have a case to work, so I'm going to do the best I can. We're on the Whitman case."

"Tough break pulling that one," Greg said. "Are you close to solving it?"

"I have no idea, really. Booth isn't telling me everything he knows. If I had to bet, I would put money on him and Brennan figuring it out." Diana finished her wine and reached over and placed the empty glass on the coffee table. "In fact, I wouldn't be surprise if they figure _me_ out as well."

"Now don't talk like that, sweetie," Greg cooed, as he placed his glass on the end table. "You're one of the best. And the best can't be out smarted by some FBI guy." Diana turned and laid down. Her head in Greg's lap; her feet propped up on the arm of the couch.

"Oh, how I wished I believed that, Greg."

"Well, you should believe it, because it's true. No way is Booth going to figure out the Whitman case before you. And no way will they figure out who you are. If you want, I can talk to Santos about running a little interference." Greg absently stoked her hair.

"Interference, huh?" Diana asked, looking up at him. "What kind of _interference_?" Greg smiled at her.

"Oh, I'm sure I can come up with something." His smile got wider as he slipped one hand under her shirt. "Right now, though, I think I can come up with something better to do than think about FBI." Diana giggled her approval as Greg's hand moved up to her breast.

* * *

_There you have it. Chapter 11. Did you learn anything? Not to fear, back to Booth and Brennan in chapter 12! Hint: they wake up!_

_Please R&R! I'm beggin' you!_

_TBC: Chapter 12_


	12. Good work, Hodgins

**Ok, so I thought long and hard about what would happen when Booth and Brennan wake. I decided that they wouldn't go all crazy or nothing. But I can assure you, that they will talk about it later on.**

* * *

Slowly Special Agent Seeley Booth's mind sparked into reality. Only a few wisps of his dream remain on his thoughts. A soft sigh escaped his lips. Never could he remember such a restful night's sleep. A nightmare that was brushed away, and a calm, joyful dream took its place. Booth took a deep breath, and pulled the mass of warmth tight against him. A smile tugged at his lips. _A wonderful dream_, he thought. _Why would I wake up from it?_ Good question. Something had awakened him, but what? Booth drew his brow together. _What woke me up?_ There it was again. _That's what woke me up. But what is it?_ Booth let out a low growl as he realized what it was. He wasn't sure when he had put his cell phone on vibrate only, but now it was shaking violently in it's holster. Without opening his eyes, he reached for his phone and flipped it open. "Booth." His throat was dry and his voice rough.

"You plan on coming into work anytime soon?" Weasley asked on the other end.

"What time is it?" Booth asked.

"8:46 in the morning." Eyes still closed, he snapped his phone shut. Booth felt something move beside him and heard a gentle sigh, and his lips turned back up in a smile. _8:46_, he thought. _In the morning!_ His eyes shot open and he lifted his head off the couch. His glaze landed on a mass of reddish-brown hair. Booth closed his eyes tight and the opened them again, making sure they weren't playing tricks.

"Bones," he said quietly, slightly shaking his shoulder. "Bones," he tried again. Booth gave a wide yawn before trying a thrid time. "Temperance, wake up." He heard Brennan take in a sharp breath. He knew the moment she came awake because her body went stiff.

"Booth, let go," she said as she struggled against his grip. Booth let his arm fall away, unaware that he was holding her so tight. Brennan sat up, already she could feel her checks turning a light shade of red. "What time is it?" she asked as she stood up. Booth watched as she stretched her arms up then run her fingers through her hair.

"8:50," he answered. Brennan's head whipped around.

"In the morning? Great." Her thoughts were interrupted when a shrill sound filled the room. Brennan hurried over to the kitchen counter and picked up her phone. "Brennan."

"Sweetie, where are you?" Angela asked, concern in her voice. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Ange. Just over slept."

"Any orange juice?" Booth whispered. Brennan shook her head no.

"Is that Booth?"

"I'll be there in about an hour." Brennan closed her phone before Angela could ask any more questions. "Thanks a lot, Booth. Now I'll have to explain things to Angela." Booth grinned at her.

"Adds a little spice to life, Bones."

"Don't you have someplace to be?" Brennan asked, putting her hands on her hips.

"Yeah, it's called a shower." Booth rubbed the back of his neck to try to work out the kinks. "I'll drop by tonight," he said, and Brennan nodded and followed him to the door. "Oh, by the way, thanks." Brennan drew her brows together.

"Thanks for what?" Booth smiled at her, then lend down and kissed her cheek.

"For a good night sleep." Brennan smiled shyly, her face a deeper red now. Booth only chuckled before leaving her with her own thoughts.

Temperance Brennan sat at her desk searching through pages of findings. "Brennan," Hodgins said, coming into her office.

"Hey, Jack, what's up?" Hodgins looked around quickly before closing the door.

"Booth isn't here?"

"Not last time I checked, why?" Hodgins drew in a deep breath.

"I was finally able to in touch with a few other buddies of mine. They tell me that there isn't an Agent Weasley with the FBI." Brennan shook her head.

"How can that be?"

"All I know is that this buddy says that as far as he's concerned Weasley isn't real."

"But Booth has a folder on her. Has her case history."

"Things like that can be forged."

"But why?"

"Because of this Whitman case."

"I wonder what is so important about this case." Hodgins handed her a folder.

"What's important is that those bones aren't the kid."

"But Angela."

"Listen to me," he said, cutting her off. "I know that her picture matches the photo of him, but that's not him either."

"I'm not sure I follow."

"Whoever the Whitman family was passing off as Jeremy wasn't their son. At least not by blood."

"How do you know?"

"Medical records."

"Hodgins, that's classified. Where did you get it?"

"Don't ask, Brennan. Just know that the handprint on the birth record that was hidden away, doesn't match the recent fingerprints done at an ID-Kid thing." Brennan shook her head.

"This doesn't make any sense what so ever. If the kid in the picture isn't Jeremy, then who is he? And where _is_ Jeremy?"

"That's not my job," Hodgins said. "That's for you and Booth to find out."

"You have to trust me, Booth," Agent Diana Weasley said.

"I don't have to do anything." Weasley released a frustrated breath.

"Like it or not, we're _partners_. You have to tell me what you know about _our_ case."

"You know all that you need to know. If you've forgotten, I'm senior agent here. I have the right to with hold information from you if I so feel like it." Booth didn't have time for this. He had too many lends to track down, and he had to make it over to see the squints.

"Is this how you treat all your partners?" Weasley asked.

"I don't keep anything from Brennan when it has to do with a case."

"Brennan _isn't_ your partner, Booth. The sooner you realize that the sooner this will work!"

"We've been over this, Weasley, and I don't except to talk about it again. So if you have something about the Whitman case to tell me, then get talking. If not, I have too much stuff to do."

"Fine," she said, crossing her arms over her chest. "Mrs. Jones says that she remembers Jeremy talking to a man the day he went missing."

"Could she describe him?"

"Tall, with black hair and a slight limp when he walked. Looked to be about late thirties."

"She sure does remember a lot about this guy."

"Yeah, she said that she saw him for about three weeks. He would talk with Jeremy on his way home from school. Jeremy never seemed scared of him, until the day he went missing."

"Grab an artist and see if Mrs. Jones can give you enough to get a sketch." Weasley nodded, and then left. _Why would Jeremy be talking to some guy on the street?_ Booth thought over the case as he walked down the hall. And who was this unknown man? Could this be the man that took the boy? His thoughts were interrupted by his phone. "Booth."

"We need to talk," Brennan said.

"Bones, I'm kinda busy right now. Can this wait until tonight?"

"No." Booth sighed. He knew it had to be important just by her voice.

"Ok, I'm heading that way now."

"What have you've got, Bones?" Booth asked, as he walked into the lab.

"My office," she answered in a short voice. She grabbed his arm and began to pull him along.

"Not that I don't enjoy being ordered around by you, Bones," Booth said as they passed by the squints. "But a simple 'follow me' would have worked." Brennan pulled him into her office and shut the door.

"This is important, Booth. Hodgins found some information I thought you should see." Brennan picked up a folder from her desk and handed it to him. She stood and watched him in silence as he read what Hodgins had told her earlier.

"Where did he get this?" Brennan shrugged.

"He said not to ask, and I didn't." Booth sunk down in a chair.

"If the bones aren't Jeremy, and the boy in the photo isn't Jeremy, then where's Jeremy?"

"And who's the boy we do have?" They both looked at each other. "Can we go talk to the parents?" Booth shook his head.

"No, not yet. I want a little more information. There has to be something out there. Thanks, Bones." He stood and started to the door. "Good work, Hodgins," he called holding up the folder as he walked through the lab.

"No problem."

* * *

_I'm already working on chapter 13. So if all goes well, look for it today or tomorrow. but do'nt hold me to that._

_TBC_


	13. You got pictures?

**A/N: I have had this written since Thursday night. And, of course, I couldn't log in to post. It's been driving my CRAZY since I have the next chapter ready to go as well. I hope that you all enjoy.**

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"What do you mean, the bones may not be Jeremy Whitman?" Booth looked at his boss. Cullen sat at his desk, hands folded in front of him. His eyes were narrowed.

"There are just too many 'facts'. Nothing matches. According to Ms. Montengro, the boy in the picture that the parents supplied us with, isn't Jeremy based on height. That's a fact _if_ Jeremy was killed close to the time that he went missing. If somebody kept him alive, then he would have had a chance to grow taller. Montengro also did a sketch from the skull. The sketch _is_ the boy we know as Jeremy."

"Ok," Cullen replied. "So somebody kidnapped Jeremy and kept him alive. That has been known to happen, Agent Booth." Booth nodded as he continued to pace back and forth in front of Cullen's desk.

"Fully aware of that, Director. However, an…_informant_ of mine,"-the last thing he needed was for Cullen to learn that a member of Brennan's team was a conspiracy junkie, doing illegal digging in files that the FBI couldn't get into- "was able to track down some very interesting information."

"And what has this informant found out?"

"That the fingerprints taken from Jeremy's baby handprint doesn't match the fingerprints on file from a ID-Kid fair from two years ago."

"There could be a mix up," Cullen pointed out.

"The whole point of the ID-Kid program is to help find children. They don't make mistakes. I've already talked to them and seen their process." Booth stopped pacing and turned to face Cullen. "The Jeremy that Mrs. Whitman gave birth to is not the Jeremy that we are looking for."

"Then what happened to the first Jeremy?"

"I don't know, sir."

"Go back, Booth, to before the Whitman family moved here. Check every record you can find."

"Right." Booth turned and started toward the door.

"Oh, and Agent Booth, tell your partner and her team good work." Booth closed his eyes for a moment, before giving a court nod and leaving the office.

Booth had Agent Wally Kent begin the background look into the Whitman's past. "What am I looking for?" Kent asked.

"Anything and everything," was Booth's answer. Agent Kent gave him one last look before setting out. Booth had watched him go, before heading out of the FBI headquarter building. It was already 9:02 PM and he still had to stop by Brennan's before heading home. He doubted that she would be open to him sleeping over two nights in a row. _Although I sure did sleep good,_ he thought. And it wasn't like he had planed on falling asleep. It was just the effect of being up so earlier, paired with being full and having a beer in him. Her couch was so soft, and having her unexpectedly turn and lean against had just lured him into sleep. A peaceful sleep filled with warm sunshine and butterflies instead of monsters and death. Booth smiled. Yes, having Brennan curled up next to him was something he knew he could get use too._ But I don't need to get use to that_, he scolded. _She's my partner_. She's more than that, a voice said. Booth nodded. "She's my best friend," he said out loud, knowing that it was true.

Dr. Temperance Brennan sat at her desk in front of her laptop. Ever since Booth had left to look into the information she had relayed to him, she had been busy trying to come up with anything on the Whitman family and Jeremy. Unfortunately, she didn't have the slightest idea as to where to begin. She wasn't a skill detective like Booth nor a scheme thinker like Hodgins. Hell, she didn't even know as much about the internet as Angela, but she still felt like she had to do something. She hated just sitting around twiddling her thumbs. _There has to be something I missed on the bones_, she thought. She quickly shut down her computer and left her office. The lab was quiet. Everybody else had left hours ago, leaving her to her own thoughts. The bones, now labeled 'unknown 1979' were laid out on the table in the middle of the lab. Brennan had refused to allow the bones to be put away. She knew that they held a secret that they weren't ready to give up. Brennan pulled on a pair of latex gloves with a snap, and then reached for the skull. "If only you could talk," she said to it, as she carefully turned it over in her hands. Her gloved fingers gently sliding over the lines of the hard, smooth surface. Suddenly, something caught her attention. She brought the skull closer to her face, her eyes straining to see. She reached over and grabbed a flashlight off a nearby table. A smile came to her lips. "Gottcha."

Booth knocked on Brennan's door at 9:49 PM. As he waited for it to open, he began to think back over the pass few days and something came to the front of his thoughts, and he smiled. When Brennan opened the door he asked, "Have you ever been mountain climbing?"

"What?" Booth laughed as he walked in.

"Our game of 20 questions, remember? We never finished it. So, have you ever been mountain climbing?" Brennan shook her head as she closed the door.

"I don't think this is really the time for games, Booth."

"Oh, and why not? I need something else to think about other than work. Come on," he pleaded.

"Alright. Yes, I have been."

"Did you enjoy it?" Brennan smiled and waved a finger in front of him.

"That's two questions."

"Got me there." Booth sniffed the air. "Are you cooking something?"

"Yes, I thought you would be hungry when you stopped by." He took off his suit coat and rolled up his sleeves. Brennan noticed that his tie had already been discarded.

"Smells great, what are you cooking?" She smiled up at him.

"Homemade pizza," she said, happily.

"_Homemade_ pizza?" Booth asked. "Didn't know you had it in you." Brennan smiled even wider, and started off toward the kitchen.

"You'll be amazed," she tossed over her shoulder. She bent down and looked through the oven door. "Should be ready in another minute or two." She stood back up and turned toward him. "So did you find anything new?" Booth shook his head no, and sat down at her dinette table.

"Not yet. But I have some people working on it. Hopefully we should know something by morning."

"Good," she said. "I found something that could help us out."

"You going to tell me?" A beep from the oven caused her to turn and grab the oven mitts then opened the oven and pulled out a pan. "Man that smells good."

"You've said that," she teased. "We'll just let it cool for a minute. Anyhow, I found a small piece of a tooth."

"A tooth? How did you and boy genius miss it?"

"I don't know, Booth. I was looking over the bones again, and almost missed it again. It's a piece of the root and it was from a molar. So it was way back in the back and buried in the jaw."

"Enough to get DNA?" Brennan nodded.

"Already spent it off, top priority."

"Good work, Bones."

"Maybe," she replied. Brennan cut the pizza into small bits, and then placed two slices each on the plates she had taken out. "We might have DNA from the bones, but do we have anything to match it to?" She placed one plate in front of him, before sitting down.

"According to the records, there's supposed to be a simple of hair in the evident box."

"Suppose to be?" Booth nodded his head as he took a bite of pizza.

"Man, Bones, this is good." He took another bite before answering. "Yeah, suppose to be. As in there should be but there isn't."

"Great, so what do we do now?"

"I have another agent looking into everything about the Whitman's past. What they did and who they were before moving here. Since Hodgins found that buried birth record, we have someplace to begin. Alabama. And I had Weasley take a sketch artist over to Mrs. Jones to see if we can get some idea as to what the mystery man looks like."

"Then maybe we can figure out what he wanted from Jeremy," Brennan finished his thoughts. "Booth, if there are two Jeremy's then how come nobody remember two boys? Everything points to the Whitman family only having one child, right?"

"I don't know, Bones," he said, standing. "Can I get more?" Brennan had to smile at the childlike look on her partners face.

"Eat all you want," she said. Booth grabbed two more slices and returned to his seat. "So really what we have," she began. "Is two boys, both which are missing, and a mystery man."

"And an agent that doesn't exist."

"Oh, yeah, I forgot about Weasley," Brennan said, wrinkling up her nose at the thought.

"How can you _forget_ about her, Bones? She's making my life a living nightmare."

"I'm sure it's not all that bad." Brennan stood up, and carried her plate to the sink, before going to the refrigerator. "Up for something new?" she asked over her shoulder. Booth gave her a sideways glance, but nodded.

"Sure, why not. Wha'cha got?" Brennan pulled two bottles out, shut the door and turned back to Booth and handled him a bottle. He turned the bottle in his hand and read the label - 'Twisted IV Watermelon' Booth drew his brows together. "What _is_ this?"

"Picked them up on my way home," she told him, taking her seat again. "I thought they looked…_interesting_. And I like watermelon." She opened her bottle and took a drink.

"Watermelon flavored…_beer_? Doesn't really sound…what's the word…good." Brennan rolled her eyes toward the ceiling and shook her head.

"Come on, Booth. You said that you would try it." He let out a deep breath, then opened his bottle. He gave it a quick sniff, then brought his lips and tipped it back.

"Can I have a real beer now? Please?" Brennan laughed.

"Sure, if you're going to be that way about it."

"I am, Bones. Some things just shouldn't be messed around with. Beer is one of them." Brennan watched as Booth got up and got himself a beer. Then he got the last two pieces of pizza and sat back down.

"So, Booth, tell me, what do you like to eat that other people consider weird?"

"What kind of dinner conversation is that?" he asked around mouthfuls.

"You're the one that brought back up our game."

"Oh, yeah. Well, believe it or not, I picked up the taste for fried green tomatoes while I was working a case down in Georgia once." Brennan pulled a face at the thought.

"Yuck."

"Yeah, that's what I said too, the first time I heard about them. But the agent I was working with was from down there and he dared me. So I ate one. Then two, and by my third one, I was hooked. You need to try them one day." Brennan shook her head.

"No, that's okay." She threw her balled up napkin at him when he began to laugh.

"What's the craziest thing that you've ever done, Bones?"

"Umm." Brennan put her elbows on the table, laced her fingers together and rested her chin on her hands. Booth watched as she screwed her mouth up to one side thinking. "The craziest thing?" she repeated softly. She dropped her eyes to the table, and after a minute of silence, she began to smile.

"Good memory?" Booth asked. Brennan looked up at him. He had finished eating and now sat back in his chair. Turned so that one arm was draped over the back.

"Guess you could say that," she said, her eyes sparkling with mischief. A look that Booth wasn't use to seeing.

"You going to share?"

"The craziest thing I've ever done was the night I went skinny dipping." Booth coughed on his beer.

"You? Skinny dipping?" Brennan smiled.

"Yeah. I was, what, 16."

"I don't believe it, Bones," Booth said, shaking his head.

"It's true," she answered. Booths lips curled up in an evil grin.

"You got pictures?"

"Certainly not!"

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_Ok, so there you have it. Brennan has gone skinny dippin'. LOL! I just couldn't resit. Hurry...review this chapter and then go on to the next chapter. _


	14. Strawberries and chocolate

**Have you ever noticed how well strawberries and chocolate go together? evil smirk This chapter is pure fluff. I just thought it was time. I didn't want the fluff bunnies to go crazy or get too mad at me. So I hope you enjoy this purly fluffy chapter. And it picks up right were the last chapter ended.**

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"_I don't believe it, Bones," Booth said, shaking his head._

_"It's true," she answered. Booths lips curled up in an evil grin._

_"You got pictures?"_

_"Certainly not!"_

"What? You can't blame me for trying, can you?" Brennan shook her head as he began to laugh.

"And just what are you laughing about?"

"Oh, the fact that your cheeks are all red."

"They are not and it's your turn to answer a question. Who was the first girl you had a crush on?"

"Damn, Bones, you know how long ago that was?" He took a drink of beer as he thought back. "I was eleven and her name was Mary Thompson. Of course, back then I didn't have nearly as much charm or my irresistible good looks," he said with his best smile.

"Or you modest ego?" Brennan asked.

"Ego?" he said, putting a hand to his heart. "Bones, I'm hurt you would say that."

"Oh, come off it, Booth. What ever happened to her? This Mary girl?" Booth shrugged.

"I don't know. I had a crush on her bad, but she barely knew that I was alive. Gave her a Valentine's present that she turned around and gave to one of her friends. You know how it goes. After about six months I moved on. Lilly Smith," he added with a wiggle of his brows. "What do you want to be doing in 20 years?"

"That's easy," Brennan said without thinking. "I want to be doing what I'm doing now."

"Having dinner with me?"

"I meant the same work. Solving crimes. Writing books."

"And what about me?"

"I don't know what you want to be doing in 20 years," she said seriously.

"I mean, am I in your 20 year plan?" When Brennan didn't answer, Booth went on. "We are, after all, partners, right? If you're going to be solving crimes and fighting the bad guys, then you need someone to help. A badge to get you all the places you can't go by yourself." Brennan titled her head slightly to the left as she thought.

"Yeah," she finally answered. "I guess I would still need a partner. But we can't say that it'll be you, now can we?"

"And why can't we?"

"Because, Booth, sooner or later you'll move on. You'll get promoted or assign to other department. Or you'll just simply grow tired and retire." Booth sat down his empty beer bottle and reached across the table. When he took her hand, he could feel her urge to pull back. He tighten his grip, letting her know that it was useless to fight.

"For as long as you want to fight the bad guys, Tempe," he said softly. "I'm going to be right there beside."

"You can't put your life on hold, Booth. You're a young agent with a bright FBI future." Booth shook his head.

"I can do more good here, with you, then I can anywhere else. I like what I do- what _we_ do. I have no plans on going anywhere that I can't take you with me." Brennan gave him a half smile before dropping her eyes. His comments made her nervous, and his touch made her skin burn. Booth gave her hand one last squeeze before letting her go. Brennan cleared her throat before looking up again.

"So, umm, what did you want to be when you were a kid?"

"A super hero," he said with a smile. "Don't most little boys?"

"What _real_ job did you want?"

"Oh, well, if you're going to take all the fun out of it. I wanted to be a football player."

"Then how did you end up in the Army and then the FBI?"

"The Army people came and talked at my high school. I was interested in what they had to say. Really interested when they said that the Army would pay for college. I didn't have any other way of going, wasn't _that_ good at football. So, when I turned 18 I signed up. Ended up in the FBI because I knew a couple of Army buddies who had gone in. Seemed like a natural step to make. You spend enough time in the military and you don't fit in with the general public any more. I think once you're a sniper, the process speeds up. By the time I got out, nobody but other soldiers could understand me." He shrugged. "Once you've seen what I've seen it changes your soul. Changes who you are." Brennan watched as emotion played across his face.

"You seem to get along well enough with us at the lab," she said. "None of us were ever military."

"I've learned to get along," he told her. "And if I'm forced to admit it, then yes, I do like all of your squints."

"All of my squints?" she repeated. "And what about me?"

"You, my dear Bones, are different."

"Different how?" He looked at her with soft chocolate colored eyes.

"Different because you get me. Maybe not the everyday world me. The me that throws out flirtation remarks and pop culture references just to confess you. But you get a deeper me, Bones. And you don't even realize it." Brennan was shocked by his confession.

"That's what friends do, right? They get each other?" Booth shook his head no.

"No, Bones. That's what best friends do. That's what _partners_ do." After a moment, he said, "Ok, enough with that mushy stuff. Next question. What is your idea of the perfect evening?"

"That's a personal question, isn't it?"

"Hey, I'm a personal guy. Now answer it."

"Ok, well, lets see. I guess it would start with me actually leaving work at a decent time. Don't look so shocked, Booth. Believe it or not, my whole life doesn't rotate around work."

"Yeah it does, Bones."

"No, it doesn't. Now are you going to let me continue?" Booth waved her on. "Good. Then coming home and having a glass of wine, while listening to some soft music. Maybe reading some. Having a nice hot bubble bath. What?" Brennan noticed that his eyes darkened as she talked.

"Oh, nothing. Just wondering if you have any company in that bath?"

"Booth!" she said, reaching over the table and slapping his arm.

"What? It's a legit question."

"No, it's not. But to answer it, no, there's nobody in the bath with me. There's nobody _here_ with me!"

"Too bad," he answered.

"Fine then, since you feel a perfect evening can't be complete without someone else, tell me what your perfect evening would be."

"Is that your next question?" he asked. Brennan sat back in her chair and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Yes." Booth let out a soft chuckle before standing. He reached over and pulled Brennan to her feet.

"First," he said. "You're right, I couldn't have the perfect evening without a woman." He led her into the living room, and then let go of her hand. "I, too, would have wine and soft music," he said. He walked as he spoke, never taking his eyes off of Brennan as he talked. "I would have a delicious meal prepared." Brennan jumped slightly when Booth, now behind her, spoke again. His mouth was close to her ear, and she could feel his warm breath. "I would run a hot bubble bath. I would get in first and then let my lady slid into the water. Resting between my legs; back pressed to my chest. My hands able to brush over her body."

"I get it, Booth," Brennan said, hoping that her voice didn't sound as light as she thought it did.

"Then," he continued. "After the water grows cold, we would get out. And gently pat each other dry with towels. Allowing time to kiss and touch each others bodies. After we are both dry, I would led us to the bedroom. The covers turned back revealing cool, crisp sheets. Then I would lay her down. Time for dessert. A tasty treat of strawberries and chocolate. Slowly I would dip a strawberry into the chocolate and let her take the first bite. I would drizzle the chocolate over her body. Followed by my tongue." Brennan closed her eyes. "You can see where this is going," he said. He had moved while he talked and now stood in front of her. When she opened her eyes, she was looking into his dark ones. "That, Temperance, is my idea of a perfect evening." A smile tugged at his lips as he reached up and ran the back of his fingers down her jaw line. "What do you think? Better with two?" Brennan swallowed hard and licked her lips.

"Maybe," she said. "But just a little." Booth's soft laugh filled the room.

"Only a little, huh?" Brennan nodded her head, suddenly unwilling to trust her voice. "Should I finish?" he asked as he took a step toward her. "Or maybe… demonstrate?" His mouth was close to hers. Too close. Brennan could feel his breath, almost feel his lips.

"Booth," she said softly. She wasn't sure what else to say. She wasn't sure what to do. Fortunately- or maybe unfortunately- her phone made up her mind. The shrill sound cut through the air and Booth automatically took a step back. Brennan hurried over to where her phone was on the kitchen counter. "Brennan."

Booth watched as Brennan answered her phone. _What am I doing?_ he asked himself. _What had I almost done?_ That was a stupid question. _I almost kissed her._ And thinking about it, she had almost let him. He turned his back to her, needing to focus on anything but her. He listened half-heartedly to her side of the conversation. "Booth," she said, when she shut her phone. He turned to face her. "We have DNA." She didn't have to say any more. He knew what that meant. He nodded at her.

"Good," he said. "Good." He let out a deep sigh. "I guess I need to be going." He picked up his jacket and headed toward the door. Brennan close behind. "Thank you for dinner," he said, turning to look at her. "And thanks…for everything else." Brennan smiled at him. She knew what he was trying to say.

"You're welcome, Seeley," she told him, surprising both of them when she put a hand on his arm. He smiled, lend down, kissed her cheek and then left.

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_Ah, another fluffy chapter down. Did you like it? Please review. The next chapter should be up soon. I hope._

_Thanks for reading!_


	15. I need a favor

**Ok, so this chapter helps to move things along a little. It also has a lot of thought in it. Thought as in a lot of what Booth is thinking. I tried to make it easy to read by** **splitting it up. So I hope I don't confuse you to much.**

**A/N:This was SUPPOSE to be up on Sunday...but it wasn't due to ****Technical Difficulties.**

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"Mrs. Whitman?" The woman that answered the door nodded yes. "I'm Special Agent Seeley Booth with the FBI," Booth said, flashing his badge. "This is Agent Diana Weasley. May we have a moment of your time?" The woman carefully looked both agents up and down.

"You have something new about Jeremy?" she asked, opening the door wider.

"We just need to ask you a few questions." The woman gestured for them to enter.

"Paul and I answered so many questions when he went missing."

"We are aware of that," Weasley said. "Agent Booth and I are just trying to see how certain things fit together.

"Please, have a seat," Mrs. Whitman said, as she led them into the living room. "Can I get either of you anything?"

"No, ma'am, we're fine," Booth answered. She nodded, and then sat down in a chair facing the two agents. She sat poised on the edge, with her arms wrapped around her stomach. "Mrs. Whitman, we have reason to believe that Jeremy was talking with a man for about three weeks before he went missing." Booth pulled out a sheet of paper and handed it to the woman. "Have you ever seen this man?" Mrs. Whitman took the picture and stared at it for a long moment. Searching her mind, but finally shook her head no.

"No, I'm sorry, Agent Booth, I've never seen him." She handed it back.

"Mrs. Whitman," Weasley began. "Where's your husband?" The two agents watched as she swiped her hand over her forehead.

"Paul's at work," she answered. "His company is planning a big merger, so everybody is working a lot of overtime."

"Was Jeremy acting strange before he went missing?" Booth asked.

"It's been so long," Mrs. Whitman said, with a slight shake of her head. "He was your typical teenager. He was an average student, and your basic boy. Had girls on his mind a little too much and study not enough."

"Did he talk about anybody bothering him?" Booth continued. "Somebody at school?"

"No. I mean he talked about other students and a couple of the teachers, but nothing out of the ordinary."

"Mrs. Whitman, did Jeremy have a brother?" Her eyes flashed dark for a brief moment, but it didn't last.

"No, Agent Booth," she said. "We tried for another child, but it never happened."

"So Jeremy was your only child?" Weasley asked to clarify. The woman in front of her nodded yes. "And how about your husband?" Mrs. Whitman looked up. Her brows slightly drawn together. "Did your husband have another child? Maybe from an affair?" Booth shot his partner a sideways glance.

"Certainly not!" Mrs. Whitman said.

"Thank you, Mrs. Whitman," Booth said, standing, signaling to both women that this conversation was over. "I think that's all of our questions. Thank you for your time." He took Weasley by the elbow and led her from the house. When they were almost to his SUV, Booth turned loose of her. "What the hell was that?" he demanded.

"Just asking her questions that we needed answers too."

"That's _not_ how it's done, Agent. We just don't go in accusing her husband of an affair."

"How else were we going to get the answers?" she asked. "Tiptoeing around the subject like you were doing wasn't getting us anywhere." Booth took a step toward her.

"You listen to me," he hissed through clenched teeth. "If you ever pull that stunt again, I'll have you up on charges faster than you can say supercalifragilisticexpialidocious_. Do_ I make myself clear?"

"Perfectly," was Weasley's one word answer. Booth turned on his heels and stomped around the car and got into the driver's seat.

Seeley Booth sat at his desk staring at the papers before him. His suit jacket was hung on the back of his chair, his shirtsleeves were rolled almost to his elbows, and his tie was loosened. He sat back in his chair, and turned his head making his neck crack. Booth stretched his arms up over his head and let out a yawn. Then he rubbed his eyes and turned his attention back to the papers spread out before him. He picked up a pen and positioned his hand over a writing tablet. Booth had already filled four pages with notes and theories. He had to figure out what questions needed to be answered before he could solve this case. _Ok,_ he thought. _I know that Jeremy was talking to a man for close to a month before he went missing. And I know that according to Mrs. Jones, he wasn't afraid of this mystery man until the day he went missing._

Booth flipped back to the first page. _His mother said that he wasn't acting strange or anything and he didn't seem to have confided in any of his friends._ His eyes scanned the words. _There's the fact that Baby Jeremy's and teenage Jeremy's fingerprints don't match. How could that be? Unless the baby printed wasn't Jeremy or the kid who went missing wasn't Jeremy. I know that the skeleton belongs to whoever it is that's in the picture. The boy who's suppose to be Jeremy. Agent Kent hadn't found anything out of the ordinary in his look into the Whitman's past. They had lived in Georgia when Jeremy was born, and moved to their current house when he was three._

Booth turned to the second page; eyes glancing over it. _I have to assume that since half the case file is missing, that someone doesn't won't me to find out the truth. Which could be what held up the first agent. Maybe his parents didn't want him found. Maybe they do have something to hide._

He read over the third page and then the forth. Finally, he settled back to the half filled fifth page._ But what could be so bad that you wouldn't want your own son found? If he really is their son. But if he isn't, then who is he? Bones told me last night that we have DNA, but we don't have anything to compare it to. Cullen won't let me ask for a sample. And even if I do get one from the boy who went missing, I would need one from baby Jeremy._

Booth dropped his pen back to his desk. "There has to be a different way," he said out loud. "But how?" He lend back in his chair and clasped his hands together behind his head. He like his eyes drift shut as he thought. _I'm going to say that the skeleton is without a doubt the boy in the picture. Angela determined that. How else can I compare the Jeremy skeleton to the baby Jeremy?_ "That's it," he said, opening his eyes and sitting up. He reached for his cell phone and went down the contact list. When he got to the name he wanted, he hit send and then waited.

"Jack Hodgins."

"Hodgins, it's Booth. I need a favor."

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_Did I confuse anybody with all that thought? I didn't set out to have this chapter go like this...but my newly found muse that it should. And who am I to argue?_

_Please leave me some feedback. drops to my knees I'm beggin' ya! Please! PLEASE!_


	16. We don't need music

**Welcome back! waves to all the adoring fans Glad you came back for yet another chapter. **

**A/N: Warning! This chapter contains what pagan-seijou calls "marshmallow fluff". In other words, it's even worst than just plain old fluff.I just couldn't help it.It's all my newly discovered Muse's fault. sigh I hope you let it anyhow.**

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**Special Agent Diana Weasley paced back and forth in her apartment. She had left FBI headquarters at 9:13 PM, and she hadn't seen Booth since two hours before that. "He's an intolerable man," she mumbled. "How dare him threaten me with charges. I can't believe he would talk to me like that." She was dressed in a T-shirt and her panties. Her hair was still damp from her shower, and Greg couldn't keep his eyes off of her. 

"Calm down, sweetness," he said, watching her from his place on the couch. "Don't let him get to you."

"It's kinda hard not too, Greg. Santos will have my head if I let Booth save this case before me. I'm supposed to be making sure he _doesn't _get close, remember?" Greg let out a soft sigh.

"How can I forget, Diana. I do the same thing. And sometimes our cases just don't work out the way we want them too."

"There's _no_ way I'm letting some FBI jerk steal my glory by winning," she said, running a hand through her hand. Greg reached up and pulled her down beside him.

"Listen to yourself, sweetness. You're getting all fired up for no reason. And you know you don't think right when you're mad." Diana struggled to get out of his grip, but then finally gave up.

"It's just…just that I'm good at what I do, Greg. And if Santos thinks that I'm slipping then he…he might take me out of the field." Greg put his arms around her and hugged her tight.

"There's no way that's going to happen," he comforted. "No way, do you hear me? You're one of the best. Santos knows that." Diana dropped her head to his shoulder.

"Thank you."

Booth knocked on Brennan's door and then waited. A small smile tugged at his lips. _This is becoming a habit_, he thought. After not being able to see Brennan during the day, he had started looking forward to leaving work and stopping by her place. He hadn't realized how much he bounced ideas off of her, until he wasn't allowed to see her. Booth would never stop being surprised at how smart she was. Or how their totally different approaches- his gut and instincts, hers science and technology- seemed to compliment each other. Giving them the results that they wanted. Booth knocked again on the door. _Odd that she hasn't opened yet._ He let his eyes take in the door and his surrounding; looking for anything that was out of place. He even lend in toward the door and listened. The other side of the door was quiet. _Where is she? I went by the lab and the guard said that she was gone for the night._ Again he knocked, this time louder. He waited another minute, before putting the bag of take out on the floor and reaching for his gun. He placed his hand ton the doorknob and slowly tried it. _It's opened_. Using the tip of his toe, he nudged the door open and quickly inspected the open room before him. Gun out in front of him, he entered. Sweeping left to right, he carefully picked his way farther in. His heart began to race even faster when the silence was broken by the sound of…what? A door opening? Yes, a door. Booth progressively made his way toward the sound. Praying with each step that his feet would make no sounds. As he came to a slightly ajar door, he stopped and listened. Yes, somebody was in there. Taking a quick breath to steady himself, he kicked the door open and was in with gun targeted in record time. A scream pierced the air. "Booth!"

"Damn it, Bones," he cursed, lowering his gun. Brennan stood in her bedroom holding a towel around herself, with another one wrapped around her hair. "You scared me," he said. "How many times do I have to tell you to lock your doors?"

"I scared you? I'm the one who had the mad man point a gun at me." Booth closed his eyes and clamped a hand over his eyes. Finally he rubbed his hand over his hair and turned away from her.

"I brought dinner," he said softly, placing his gun back in its holster and leaving the room.

Ten minutes later, Brennan came into the living area, dressed in jeans and a green top. Booth had already opened two beers and was sitting at the table picking though his food. "Are you ok?" she asked, taking a seat and reaching for her own food.

"Yeah," he said, never picking his eyes up.

"Listen, I'm sorry for not locking my door," she started. "I just wanted to take a bath, but knew you would be stopping by and I didn't want you to have to wait."

"You could have called," he said.

"Oh," Brennan said. "I didn't think about that." Booth laid his fork down.

"Anyone could have come though that door, Bones. Anybody. What if it hadn't been me? Huh? Then what?"

"I said I was sorry." Booth dropped his eyes again, and they began to eat in silence. "How was your day?" Brennan watched one shoulder raise then fall in a half shrug.

"Went and talked to Mrs. Whitman," he told her. "Asked her about the man Jeremy was seen talking to."

"And did she know him?" Booth shook his head.

"She said she didn't, but…I don't know…I just got the feeling that she was laying. It was the way she took in the picture. The way her eyes looked when she saw him. I would bet money that she had at least seen him before."

"But why would she lie?" Brennan asked between bites. "What does she gain?"

"Don't know if she gains anything," Booth said, and then took a swig of his beer. "Maybe she's known all along that this guy took Jeremy."

"Were you able to get a sample to compare the DNA too?"

"No," he said, shaking his head. "But I've got Hodgins working of an idea for me." Brennan looked at him with one raised eyebrow. She slowly finished chewing the bite of food in her mouth before she spoke.

"Now who's fueling his obsession?" Booth answered with a smile. "So tell me," Brennan started, once they had both finished their meal. "What are your thoughts about the case? Do you think the skeleton is Jeremy?"

"I think the skeleton belongs to whoever was in the picture. We can't over look the fact that we have two sets of fingerprints. We might have two different Jeremys."

"But what happened to the first one?" Booth shrugged.

"Don't know yet." Again they fell into silence. Both lost in their own thoughts. Booth pushed back in his chair, and stretched out his legs. "So, tell me." Brennan looked up at him. "Name the one person that you couldn't image life without?" Brennan twisted her mouth up in thought.

"Isn't this game over yet?" Booth chuckled.

"Nope, this is question 18."

"I can't answer that question, Booth."

"Got to. I asked." Brennan shook her head.

"No, I mean, I don't know of just one person. I like to think of myself as independent. That I don't need anybody, but I know that's not true. Without Angela, my life would be much more boring. She does her best to keep me up to date. To make sure that I have some what of a life. Zach reminds me what it's like to be eager about learning. He's always willing to learn, and he enjoys it. And Hodgins."

"Wait," Booth interrupted. "Hodgins makes your life better?"

"Of course. He's good at what he does and like it or not, he makes you think."

"And?" Booth asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"And what?"

"Anybody else in your life?"

"Umm, no, I don't think so," Brennan said teasingly.

"You sure about that? Everybody else in your life you could live without?"

"Oh, Dr. Goodman," she answered. "He's a wise man, and I learn a lot from him." Booth pinched his lips together. Brennan laughed. "You know you're on the list."

"Yeah, but it's nice to hear it."

"Life really would be a lot different without you, Booth. You showed me there really is life outside the lab. You've taught me…to listen a little more to my…gut." Booth smiled at her.

"Never thought I would hear you say that."

"Yah, well don't get use to it," she told him, returning his smile. "If you weren't an FBI agent, what would you be doing?" Booth let out a sigh.

"Umm, I don't know," he said. "I never really thought about it." He rubbed a hand over his chin in thought. "Maybe an architect."

"An architect?" Brennan asked with her brows raised.

"Yeah, I took some classes in high school and believe it or not I had a real talent. The teacher was amazed when I went into the army right after graduation." Booth stood up from his chair. "That thing's getting hard," he said moving away from the table.

"Their made out of wood, of course they're hard," Brennan teased, following behind him.

"Why, Dr. Bones, was that you being funny?" he asked turning back to face her. She smiled up at him through her eyelashes.

"I can say a few funny things," she told him. Booth smiled, and then turned a way and walked over to the stereo. He flipped it on and a soft melody filled the room.

"That's nice," he said, turning around. He grabbed Brennan and pulled her into his arms.

"Booth, let go," she said, trying to wiggle out of his arms.

"Oh, come on," he said, starting to move them around the floor. Brennan sighed. Booth felt Brennan relaxed in his grip, and soon her arms crept up around his neck.

"Didn't know you liked music you couldn't play air guitar too," she said, her eyes lighting up at the memory of the last time they danced.

"Now I never said that, did I?"

"No, I guess not, but I just assumed."

"Don't you know by now never to assume anything about me," he said with a smile. His arms tightened around her waist bringing her even closer. "In fact, I really love dancing. Slow, fast, tango."

"Tango? Really?" Booth nodded with an even wider smile.

"Yeah, maybe one day I'll teach you."

"That'll be good," she said, dropping her eyes. No longer able to look into his. Booth let his eyes close,and began to hum with the music. "Booth," she said softly.

"Umm."

"Booth," she said again looking up at him. "The song's ended." Booth opened his eyes.

"So it has," he said, but didn't let go. "We don't need music anyhow." Brennan smiled and then laid her head on his shoulder, letting Booth move them slowly with the tune in his mind.

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_Well, there you are it. A chapter that ended in pure marshmallow fluff. Did you like it? I thought it was sweet. You know what to do, right? Give it to me, baby. Review!_

_Wolfmyjic's Motto: Rock on!_


	17. Dr Goodman observes

**Ok, so I'm not sure were all the fluff from the past few chapters came from. I swear I didn't set out to make this a fluff-fic (you know...a fic of nothing but fluff), but it sure has had alot of marshmellow fluff in it. But no more! Well, at least not this chapter. This is a serious chapter that, well, that kinda changes things. Yeah, we'll go with that. So, read on. And let me know what you think.**

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Dr. Temperance Brennan left her home at 6:45 in the morning. She stopped on her way to her car, and looked up at the sky. It was a beautiful day. Brennan smiled as her mind wandered back to the night before. To her and Booth dancing. Even at the thought, she felt heat spread across her cheeks. She didn't know what had inspired him to do that; all she knew is that it calmed her. Calmed and relaxed her. A smile came to her lips. This cheerful feeling was different to Brennan and she decided that she liked it.

Temperance took a deep breath, and started toward her car, only to have an uneasy sensation come over her. She quickly looked over her shoulder. Trying to spot anything that shouldn't be there, but nothing caught her eyes. Brennan shook her head, and turned back. Again, something felt wrong to her, and she picked up her pace.

Suddenly, arms came around her and a cloth put over her nose and mouth. Brennan struggled, but she couldn't break free. Panic stuck her, and she tried once again; this time trying to throw the person over her shoulder. The smell from the rag finally over took her, and conscious slipped away.

Seeley Booth smiled to himself, as he made his way to Brennan's lab. Thoughts of the night before played through his mind. Holding her in his arms, dancing to the soft music and then, after the song played, dancing to the song in his head. He had thought that she would pulled away, but she didn't. Instead, she laid her head against his shoulder. His smile widen at the thought of the kiss goodnight. It was becoming too much of a habit to kiss her cheek before leaving her. Of course, he had contemplated kissing her on the lips, but had decided that he didn't want to push it. Brennan was responding to his small gestures of intimacy, and he didn't want to blow it. "Have you seen Tempe?" Angela asked, as soon as Booth entered the lab.

"What?"

"Tempe? Brennan? Bones?" Angela started. "You know, that anthropologist you follow around like a puppy?" she snapped, eyes dark.

"Whoa," Booth said, holding out a hand to quiet her. "No need to get prissy."

"Sorry, Booth," Angela apologized. "It's just that it's 8:45 and we haven't heard from Tempe."

"She's not answering her phone?"

"No. Not her cell or her home. I've left about two-dozen messages. I even have Hodgins and Zack calling."

"Dr. Brennan said she would be in early," Zack said, coming up to stand near Angela. "She wanted to get go over some new evidence for your case."

"Yeah," Hodgins said from where he stood. "It's not like Brennan to not be here."

"Angela, do you have keys to her place?" Angela nodded. "Come on." Booth grabbed her by the arm and started to lead her from the lab. "If anybody ask, you haven't seen us."

"What about Goodman?" Zack asked.

"Use your own judgment," Booth called.

Brennan slowly came back to reality, and panic took grip immediately. Her hands were tied behind her back, and a blindfold covered her eyes. She listened; trying to tell where she was and who was with her, but she didn't hear anything. _This isn't good_, she thought to herself, and almost laughed when she realized what an understatement that was. Brennan tried to sit up, but found that her head began to swim, bringing on a feeling of nausea. She fell back down to what she figured to be a mattress. The air was cold, and Brennan shivered. _Great_. _If my kidnappers don't kill me, then I'm going to freeze to death._

"Bones!" Booth yelled, as he pounded of Brennan's door. "Bones! You in there?"

"Tempe, please open up," Angela pleaded.

"Open it," Booth told her. Angela fumbled with the key, but quickly the lock clicked. Booth put a hand on her arm. "Wait here," he said. Angela nodded, and took a step back. Booth's hand went to his gun and unclipped the holster. He pushed the door opened and slowly entered. His eyes scanned the area with sniper perceptiveness. Everything was still. Booth made his way through each room, not much different than he had done last night. This time, however, he knew Brennan wasn't taking a shower. "She's not here," he called to Angela, as he walked back into the living room. Angela peeked around the door jam, before entering.

"Then where the hell is she?" Angela said. Booth knew that she was upset. Brennan's car was parked outside, and her place was empty.

"I don't know," he said. "But I'm going to find her."

"Who would take her?" Booth had his theories, but nothing he wanted to tell Angela. Nothing that he knew for sure.

"Again, I don't know," Booth snapped. The look an Angela's face touched him. He knew that Brennan was her best friend, and whatever he felt, then Angela felt it too. He walked over to her and put his hands on her upper arms. "I'm sorry, Angela, I didn't mean to snap."

"I know, Booth. I know you're worried too."

"I'll find her." Angela gave him a weak smile. "Come on. Let's get back to the lab."

Brennan laid very still. She heard something that she knew. Her cellphone! It was there, somewhere. _If I could only get to it._ But she didn't know where it was. It sounded like it was in the same room as she was, but since she didn't know how big the room was-or who was there with her- she didn't try to move. _Who is in here?_ Brennan had tried to listen to see if she could tell how many people was watching her, but she hadn't heard anything. Nothing, until her phone began to ring. Somehow, she knew it was Angela. And then it rang again. _Hodgins._ She smiled to herself. Again the phone rung. _Zack_. She knew that her friends were going crazy with worry. _What about Booth?_ Was he looking for her? Was he going crazy too? _Of course,_ she answered. _Booth is out there right now looking for me._ She let out a heavy sigh. She hated waiting. Hated not knowing. Hated the fact that someone had got the drop on her.

Booth paced back and forth in front of Dr. Daniel Goodman's desk. Angela sat in one chair and Hodgins beside her, quietly handing her a new tissue when she needed it. Zack stood in the corner, wringing his hands together. Dr. Goodman took in each and every face; trying to read each person emotional state. The was a look of total panic on Zack's face. Goodman likened it to the look a boy afraid of the dark. Brennan is Zack's mentor; his teacher. Without Brennan to show him the way, he's lost. Like he's wandering through a dark room.

The next face he looked at was Angela. _Ah, yes, poor Ms. Montenegro. Her and Dr. Brennan are very close friends. Probably best friends, I would say. _Angela looked distraught. Her eyes were red from tears, and her mouth turned down in a frown. She held a tissue tight in one hand, ready to wipe away any tears that might escape, and her other hand fidgeted with the nails of her first hand. She sat forward in her chair; elbows resting on her knees. No sound came from her except the occasional hiccup.

Dr. Jack Hodgins sat beside Angela. Box of tissues at his feet, in easy reach for when he thought his co-worker needed a fresh one. He too, sat forward in his chair, slightly turned turn her. Goodman noticed that every so often, he would reach out and rest his hand on her hand. That was the only time that Angela smiled.

The sound of a mumbled curse and a hand hitting the wall brought Goodman's eyes to the face of Special Agent Seeley Booth. Booth had been working with the lab for a short time. Assigned to work closely with Brennan and her team, Goodman was surprised to see the bond that the five of them had made. The squints- _ah, yes Agent Booth, I'm fully aware as to how you refer to the scientific community_- distrusted him considerably the first time he walked into the labs. And Booth looked upon them as nothing more than pawns to help him solve his cases. He was determined that technology and old fashion face-to-face, gut reasoning police work could not work together. Goodman was pleased to see, however, that it wasn't long before them were all meeting up for drinks after work. The Booth was including Brennan in his fieldwork. Of course it bothered him to have Brennan out there, but also knew that it made her better at her job. _Yes,_ Goodman thought._ When Booth walked in nobody thought that the FBI agent and anthropologist to become partners. Real partners. _Goodman watched as Booth ran a hand through his hand and began his pacing again. His eyes and face was dark with worry…and something else. Goodman couldn't quite put his finger on what other emotion was there. _Of course he's worried_, Goodman thought. _This is his partner. His friend. But what else?_ Finally he spoke. "Is there any chance Dr. Brennan went off somewhere by herself?" He knew it was an impossible theory, but it needed to be asked.

"No," Zack said. "She wouldn't just leave. Especially when there was a skeleton."

"Zack's right," Angela said. "Tempe wouldn't _just_ disappear. Not with a case. And _not_ without telling somebody. Me or Booth or _somebody!_" Goodman nodded his understanding.

"Who was the last person to see her?"

"I left the lab at about 7:45 last night," Angela said. "Tempe was still here."

"Yeah," Hodgins said. "Zack and I were still here too. What time did we leave?" he asked looking over to the young man in the corner.

"Oh, umm…about 8:50 or so. Dr. Brennan said that she was leaving shortly after us."

"So I guess then you two were the last to see her." Goodman glanced up to Booth who had stopped his pacing. "Is that correct?" Zack and Hodgins both nodded. "I'll call down to the guard desk. See what time she left." Goodman reached for his phone.

"No." Every pair of eyes turned to look at the man who had spoken. "When she left here she was fine."

"And you know this how?" Goodman asked, placing the phone back onto its cradle. Booth rubbed the back of his neck, and let his eyes close.

"I know because I saw her after she left."

"What time, Booth?" Angela asked. Booth dropped his eyes to the floor, and cleared his throat.

"I…umm…was at her place last night. I didn't leave until about 11." The room was quiet with shocked silence.

"So we can say that whatever happened to Dr. Brennan was done between 11 and this morning. What time did you try to call her, Ms. Montenegro?"

"Oh, umm," Angela wiped at her eyes. "She was suppose to be here around 7. When she wasn't here at 7:30 I started calling." Goodman nodded.

"Between 11 last night and 7:30 Dr. Brennan went missing."

"But who would do something like this?" Angela begged, looking at Booth. Her eyes were red and wet, and they tugged at Booth's heart.

"I don't know, Ange," he said. He opened his mouth to continue, but was cut off by his phone. "Booth." Everybody watched as he listened. "Be right there." He snapped his phone shut, and looked around the room. "I've got to go," he said.

"Is it something about Tempe?" Angela asked, standing up. "Have they found her?" She almost ran to Booth. He put his hands on her upper arms, like he had done early that day.

"They haven't found her. Yet. But I will. I give you my word. I'm going to find Temperance." He turned loose and met the eyes of Goodman. "I'll call as soon as I know _anything_." He turned and left.

"I suggest," Dr. Goodman said, after a cough to get everybody's attention. "That we try to continue on with our work. That's what Dr. Brennan would want."

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_I haven't done anything with Dr. Goodman, so I thought he would be perfect for this chapter. I hope I wasn't totally OOC with him. So did you like it? Can you believe it? I couldn't. When I wrote about Brennan getting kidnapped, I was like "Whoa. Where did that come from?"_

_Anyhow, please leave me a review. It makes my ego grow and drives my hubby crazy. ;-)_

_Thanks! _

_Wolfy_


	18. She's more than a partner

**Ok, so in this chapter you learn who called Booth. It's kinda slow...but needed to be written. Hope you like it.**

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"Seeley," a tall man with graying hair greeted Agent Booth with an out stretched hand.

"Agent Penn." Booth took the offered hand. "Thanks for the phone call. I'm glad to see you're lead on this case." Stanley Penn had been an agent for 28 years, and Booth respected the man immensely. In fact, he owed Penn a great bit of thanks. If it hadn't been for the older agent taking him under his wing then Booth knew he wouldn't be who he was today.

"Sorry to hear about your partner." Booth pinched his lips together at the statement. Booth hated being on the wrong side of this conversation.

"I hope that means that you're going to get her back for me." Penn watched Booth carefully and then nodded.

"I'm going to give it my all. What can you tell me about Dr. Brennan?" Booth stuck his hands into his pants pockets.

"What do you need to know?" Booth knew the line of questioning but waited for Penn to ask something specific.

"Well, first off, what is she like?" One side of Booth's mouth twisted up in a half grin.

"You've never met her, have you?" Penn shook his head no. "Where to start? Bon- um…I mean Dr. Brennan is a strong willed, impendent woman. She's more than capable of taking care of herself. She's work driven and brilliant. She's after the truth, always has been. Brennan has trouble with trusting people- making friends- but once you've gained her trust then she's always got your back. There's nothing she wouldn't do for her team." Booth stopped and took a deep breath.

"How capable is she? Of taking care of herself, I mean."

"She can kick just about anyone's butt in a fair fight. And sometimes when it isn't fair. That's why I'm so worried. I've seen her fight, Penn. She's good. Someone had to get the drop on her." Penn had taken out his notebook and was scribbling down notes.

"Does she have any enemies?" Penn asked, looking up at Booth when he snorted.

"You're talking about a woman who's help solve some high profile cases."

"Wasn't she charged with murder not long ago?" Booth nodded.

"Those charges were dropped," he told Penn. "The real killer was caught."

"And you flew down to New Orleans, did you not? Was that official business?" Booth narrowed his eyes.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Penn shrugged.

"Nothing really," Penn answered. "I just heard you went, wanted to know why." Booth smiled and shook his head.

"No, Stanley. I took vacation to go." Penn nodded.

"Ok, Seeley. Tell me about her team."

"Well, there's Angela Montenegro. She's Brennan's best friend. Angela is the forensic artist for the team. She's really good. At both her job and at art. I've seen her stuff that doesn't include the face of a dead person. Angela also has a knack for recreating crime scenes with this…weird 3-D computer thing." Booth waited while Penn finished his notes. "Then there's Zack Addy. He's Brennan's assistant. Too smart for his own good. I don't even want to know his IQ. Zack helps Brennan in the lab with skeletons, research, anything really." Penn nodded. "The last is Dr. Jack Hodgins. Hodgins is the bug guy. Expertise in bugs, spores and minerals."

"What about her boss?" Penn asked as he flipped to a clean sheet of paper.

"Ah, Dr. Daniel Goodman. I don't have a lot of contact with him, that's Cullen's job. I have worked some with him. He's a good man. He keeps the lab in order. Keeps a tight rein on the squints."

"Anything else you can think of? What about your current case?"

"Bones wasn't really on this case. She was only dealing with the skeleton." Penn noticed the nickname, but didn't say anything. "Cullen assigned a new partner for this."

"And how much did you tell Dr. Brennan?" Penn asked coolly. Booth dropped his eyes and lifted one shoulder. "So where do you think I should start?" Penn watched the other agent think. He had taken his hands out of his pockets and had them crossed over his chest.

"Can I tell you something, Stanley?" Penn nodded. "Put that away." Booth indicated the notebook with his head. Penn closed the small book and put it in his inside coat pocket. "Agent Diana Weasley. I don't trust her. She's my _partner_ for this case, but there's something about her. Just, look into it."

"Alright, Booth. I'll start there personally." He held out his hand. "Thank you, Seeley." Booth took the offered hand.

"Keep me informed, Penn. I want to know everything you can tell me." The older agent looked at Booth knowingly. He knew that the young man was struggling, so he waited. "She's more than a partner." Penn gave him a smile.

"I'll call you as soon as I know something. Promise, Seeley. If I know it, you'll know it." Penn placed a hand on Booth's shoulder, gave it a squeeze then he turned and walked away. Booth stood there for a minute watching the other agents. He hated the fact that this wasn't his case. That Cullen wouldn't let him on it, but Booth understood. He had too much invested in it, but just because he understood, doesn't mean he had to like it. Booth reached for his phone as it went off.

"Booth." He listened to Weasley on the other end. She was the last person he wanted to talk to, but he _did_ have a case. And he realized that Bones would want him to solve it.

Dr. Temperance Brennan let out a heavy sigh. Her hands and feet were bound but she had been able to force herself to sit up. Now her back rested on the cold surface of a wall. She drew her legs up to her chest. An uncomfortable feeling had taken hold of her about twenty minutes before. A feeling that she willed to go away, but it was just getting worst. "Hey," she called out. She licked her lips and started again. "Is there anybody out there?" Nothing. "I've got to go to the bathroom!" She waited, and it surprised her when she heard the sharp click of a lock. Then the squeak of a door opening, and then two sets of feet across the wood floor. Brennan felt the cold tip of a gun to her temple. The binds at her feet were loosened and a hand on her forearm drug her to her feet. A quick walk ended with her hands being untied.

"Keep the blindfold on and make it quick," a deep voice said. Brennan put out her hands and felt the way into a small bathroom. _Well, I've never used the toilet without seeing_, she thought. The prospect of using a toilet she couldn't see didn't appeal to Brennan, but neither did the prospect of wetting her pant. The bathroom trip was slow going, back Brennan was finally able to use the restroom and wash her hands. As she cut the water off, a hand grabbed her and tied her hands back behind her back. Once back to the mattress, her feet were retied as well. Then she heard one of her watchers hit a series of buttons, then her voice filled the room. Whoever was in the room with her had put her cell phone on speaker. The watcher hit another few buttons and her mailbox came up. _How did they know my password?_ she thought, but it was pushed aside when she heard the phone voice say message one then Angela's voice came on.

"Tempe, running a little late, are we?" her friends voice was light and teasing. "Message two."

"Tempe, sweetie, where are you at?" Message three, four, and five where all Angela. Her voice getting more and more worried.

"Message six."

"Brennan, it's Jack. Where are you? Angela is really worried. Call me."

"Message seven."

"Dr. Brennan, this is Zack. I have those findings you wanted. Are you coming in today?" Messages eight through fifteen where a rotation of Angela, Hodgins and Jack.

"Message sixteen."

"Bones, it's Booth. Where are you? We're heading to your place." Brennan thought his voice sounded a little worried, but she couldn't be sure.

"Message seventeen."

"Tempe, please call me back," Angela's voice pleaded. "We're all really worried."

"Message eighteen."

"Where the hell are you, Bones." This time Brennan could hear the concern in Booth's voice and suddenly her heart leaped. Booth was worried about her and she knew that he was looking. He had to be.

"End of messages." She heard the phone snap shut and it was dropped somewhere in the room. Then her watcher left, leaving the sound on the lock dangling in the air.

* * *

_Ok, so I love the fact Brennan had to go to the restroom. I thought it was funny. That's something that always gets me. Somebody is kiddnapped and they NEVER go to the bathroom. I have to pee when I'm nervous. I would be going every 2 minutes! I know, I know. TMI._

_Review waves magic wand Now!_


	19. You're with me

**A/N: This is a short chapter. Sorry 'bout that. I was going to make it a bit longer, but it's been a few days since my last chapter...and well, I thought you guys needed something new. Aren't I sweat? (wait, don't answer that.) Anyhow, hope you enjoy.**

**another A/N: If you haven't noticed, I like writing in things that you normally don't read about, but are so true. Ex. the bathroom scene in the last chapter. Look for something else that ALWAYS happens.**

**Disclaimer: Check back to...um...chapter 2I think. Basically says "I don't own BONES". Bummer.**

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Special Agent Seeley Booth was exhausted. When he had gotten up at 5:30 that morning, he had no idea just how physically and emotionally demanding the day would be. He glanced at his watch. 3:43 PM. Between working the Whitman case with Weasleybeing on the phone with Penn getting updated every hour about the search for Brennan, meeting with Cullen and just absolutely worrying about his partner, Booth found himself longing for sleep. He quickly pulled his mind to his case at hand as he entered the lab. "Any news?" Angela asked as she looked up from where she sat. Her face was drawn, and no smile graced it. Booth shook his head. "Why aren't you out there?" she demanded. Her voice now raised, she was walking toward Booth. Zack and Hodgins looked up from their work. "Why aren't you looking for her?" She was now standing in front of him. "You said you would find her! Why are you here?" Tears had begun to flow freely down her cheeks and she pounded Booth's chest. "You said you would find her. You promised." Booth took the punishment without a word. Finally when she had stopped the beating, he brought his arms up around her.

"Ange," he said softly. "Agent Penn is a good agent. I have faith that he'll find her. You know that I would be out there, but I have to finish this case." He brought his hands to her forearms and pushed her away slightly so he could see her eyes. "Penn updates me every hour and I'm meeting up with him tonight. We're going to find her." Angela dropped her eyes, suddenly embarrassed.

"I'm sorry, Booth," she said. "I'm just…worried sick." Booth smiled at her and gave her one last hug.

"It's okay, Angela. I'm worried to." As they pulled apart, Booth noticed that Hodgins and Zack had come to stand behind her. _Squint comradeship_, he thought. "Anything new?" he asked to Hodgins, trying to get back to the reason he came.

"I think I might have found something," Hodgins answered, leading the FBI agent to his desk. He pulled a copy of a newspaper article. "I was able to dig this up." He handed the paper to Booth. The squints all watched as Booth read it over and then nodded. It was an article and picture of Jeremy at age three. He had his face painted at a carnival, and even through the picture was black and white newsprint, you could tell that the boy's eyes were light up.

"And…umm…I did a comparison," Angela started. "Between the boy in the article, the picture and Mr. And Mrs. Whitman."

"What did you determine?"

"Well, based on facial structure I would say that the boy in the article is the son of the Whitman. But this is the weird part. The article Jeremy and the picture Jeremy aren't the same boy."

"I figured as much," Booth said. "But who is this boy?" he asked shaking the paper in his hand. "And where did he go?"

"And who's the boy the Whitman's raised as Jeremy?" Hodgins added.

"And who's the man reported to have been talking to Jeremy?" Booth questioned. The three squints looked from one to another.

"And," Zack started. "Do you think this had anything to do with Dr. Brennan being kidnapped?" Booth glanced up at the boy and then to Angela and Hodgins. He let out a sigh, and then rubbed his free hand over his eyes.

"I don't know," he finally answered.

"Maybe I can help answer a few questions," Dr. Goodman announced from the bottom on the steps. Four sets of eyes turned to look at him.

"What question?" Booth asked, taking a step forward toward him.

"I will assume that my name we stay out of any reports," Goodman said. Booth narrowed his eyes but nodded at the man. "Good." Goodman held out a plain manila folder.

"What is this?"

"Take it and see, Agent Booth." Booth reached out, took the folder and then opened it. Inside where classified papers with a name that Booth didn't recognize on them but one alias that caught his eye: Diana Weasley. Hodgins let out a soft whistle from where he stood reading over Booths shoulder.

"Where did you get these?" Booth asked, shutting the folder. Goodman smiled.

"It would seem that Dr. Hodgins isn't the only one in this lab with…informants," he said, before turning and leaving.

"What is it, Booth?" Angela asked.

"The truth," he said and then turned to look at Angela. "I'm going to have a sketch sent over to you. Do you think you can compare it to the skeleton? Or to the picture of Jeremy? See if there's any common features."

"I can do that."

"Good. Hodgins, look into any deaths in Alabama of a boy between the ages of three to five. And any boys that went missing of about the same age." Hodgins nodded and Booth turned to leave.

"What about me, Agent Booth?" Zack asked. Booth stopped. Normally he would just ignore the boy. It made them both feel better, but he knew that Zack was just as worried as everybody else. And that if he assigned him something to do, that Zack would do it without question. Both Hodgins and Angela held their breath. They both knew that Booth looked over Zack. Teased him without mercy sometimes. They all watched as Booth looked down at the folder in his hands.

"You're with me." The words hang in the silence of the room. Booth nodded to no one, and began to walk down the steps. "You coming?" Zack tossed a worried look to Angela-who shrugged- and then hurried after the agent.

"Where are we going?" Zack asked, as they reached Booth's black SUV. Booth pulled opened the driver's side door, and got in. When Zack had mirrored his action, he started the car and pulled off.

"My office," he finally answered. Zack swallowed the lump in his throat.

"Wh-why?" Zack asked, stumbling over his words.

"Cause I need help going through all those papers Goodman gave me." Zack nodded, and nothing else was said.

Brennan pulled her knees as close to her face as she could and rubbed her nose across one of them. _Why does your nose always itch when it's the hardest for you to scratch it?_ she asked herself. Again she rubbed her nose across her knee. With the itching ceased she stretched her legs out in front of her. She wasn't sure how long she had been there, but her stomach was beginning to growl signaling that breakfast had completely worn off. Brennan let out a sigh. _I need to do something,_ she thought. But what? _I could start by getting up off this mattress and finding my cellphone._ Brennan drew her face up in thought. _Yeah, but what if they're watching me? What if they messed up my phone after playing my messages? _There were so many things running through her mind. She questioned her treatment. The attack hadn't hurt her. Hadn't really said anything to her. _Odd._

* * *

_I know, I kinda left ya hangin'. Oh well. You'll live. Does your nose itch yet? It's true. Your nose ALWAYS itches when it's hard to scratch it. Like when your hands are full or when someone says "Hold this right here and don't move". :-)_

_More to come soon. Just hang in there._

_wolfy_


	20. I know who you are

**Welcome to the end. Ok, so not really. But we are gettin' close. Things will now start to make some sorta sense. Maybe. I hope.**

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Zack Addy snuck a glance at Special Agent Seeley Booth. The man was sitting at the edge of his chair. One elbow resting on his desk, head in hand- fingers spread through his hair. The other hand held a piece of paper. Zack watched as the agent's eyes moved from left to right and then back again. Booth's brows were drawn together, and his mouth pinched into a thin line. Zack dropped his eyes to the sheets of papers he held in his own hands. He sat opposite of Booth, and neither said a word. They both just sat, both reading their own stack of papers. Finally Booth sat back in his chair with a sigh. He laced his fingers together and rested his hands on the top of his head. "All those damn words are starting to run together," he said. Zack looked up at the agent. He saw that Booth's face was strained. Dark circles enhanced the tiredness in his eyes.

"Is all this stuff really useful?" Zack asked. Booth shrugged.

"I sure hope so, Zack," he answered, letting his eyes drift shut. Zack again watched the agent. It was one of the few times that Booth had said his name. He was beginning to think that he had forgotten, but he knew that Booth knew more about him than he let on. Agent Penn had stopped by that day asking questions. Everybody had been surprised by what he had said Booth told him. "Lets go over what we know," Booth said, opening his eyes.

"Well," Zack began. "We know that Agent Weasley's real name is Diana Alexander. And that she may or may not be an FBI agent." Booth nodded his head.

"Correct. What else?" Zack looked away from Booth for a moment and thought.

"We know that she spent eight years at various places overseas. And that she arrived back in the US two days before she was assigned to you. She had been in Japan for 3 months before that." A sharp rap on Booth's closed door caused Zack to stop speaking.

"Who's this?" Cullen asked, opening the door without waiting to be given permission.

"Zack Addy," Zack answered, nervously.

Who?" Cullen asked, looking at Booth. Booth dropped his hands and sat forward in his chair.

"Dr. Brennan's assistant," he clarified.

"What the hell is he doing here?"

"With Brennan missing, Addy here is the best resource I've got to fill in for her." Cullen gave a curt nod.

"And do I want to know what all that is?" he asked indicating the papers spread out on Booth's desk.

"No." Cullen gave another curt nod and closed the door. Zack turned to Booth who shook his head. "Continue." Zack gave a nervous cough to clear his throat.

"We know that she spent at least two months in Russia, Japan, Mexico, Brazil, Greenland, South Africa and Korea. The rest of her eight years were spent in various places but all less than a month." Booth nodded. His mind was sorting through all the information, weeding out anything that he didn't think was important. But he didn't toss that information away, no, he stored it out of the way. Just in case he may need it later.

"Anything else?"

"Agent Booth," Zack said, his voice cracking slightly. "Umm, sir, you do know that I'm not a FBI agent, don't you? Nor am I Dr. Brennan. Going through case files is not my job. Running down meaning less information isn't _my_ job. I should be back at the lab and you should be out looking for Dr. Brennan. Not wasting time with this… _stuff_." Booth leaned forward in his chair again, and leveled Zack with a piercing stare. His brown eyes weren't cold, or angry, they were almost understanding.

"I'm fully aware of that, Zack," Booth said. "But you wanted to help. This is helping. And this isn't useless information. Bones, and you for that matter, can study a skeleton and take from it any clues, any bit of information that the skele may hold to solve the mystery that it presents to you. That's what an agent does- that's what I do- with this information. To you it's just a bunch of papers, filled with dates and places and clues that make no more sense to you than a skeleton makes to me." Booth stopped and watched the boy as he thought.

"So…so this is like when I examine a set of bones? We have to work our way through it, step by step, in a certain order and then put the pieces together in a way that can be understood." Booth nodded. "I get it." Zack reached over and picked up a sheet of paper, and began to read. Booth smiled and copied his action. It was twenty minute later that Booth's cellphone began to ring.

"Booth." He listened. "Hey, Angela." Again he listened. "Okay, we'll be there shortly." He closed his phone and began to gather papers. "Looks like Angela has something for us. We'll pack up and head over to the lab. If you're up to it, we'll get back to the papers tomorrow."

"You bet I am," Zack said. He was surprised that his nervous feelings were going away. He still didn't know why Brennan enjoyed working the field with Booth, and he really didn't understand Booth at all, but what he did know, was that the FBI agent was smarter than he had given him credit for. It might not be in science, but Booth had the ability to read people-to read what was going on- and Zack was beginning to understand the importance of this.

Zack followed Booth through the halls of the FBI headquarters and out the doors. As they made their way to a black SUV Booth suddenly stop. Standing five cars down from his stood Diana Weasley. Booth slapped the folder to Zack's chest- his hands came up hold the folder. "Get in the car," Booth said, hitting the button to unlock the doors. Zack looked from the agent to Weasley, then walked to the SUV and got in. Booth slowly made his way to Weasley, stopping a few feet away.

"Agent Booth," she said.

"I want her back," he hissed. Weasley's eyes slightly widen.

"Who?" Booth took a step toward her.

"Brennan," he said. "I know who you are. I know that you know where she's at. I want her back." Again he took a step toward her. "I know who you are." He lent down until his mouth was near her right ear. "Diana Alexander," he whispered. He stood up straight, looked the stunned woman in the eye, turned and walked away. He gave Diana Alexander one last glance before getting into his SUV.

"What did you say to her?" Zack asked, as Booth started the engine and pulled away.

"Do you really want to know?" Zack thought for a moment and then shook his head no.

Dr. Temperance Brennan still sat on the lumpy mattress, leaning up against a cold wall. Her stomach growled loudly. _I'm so hungry,_ she thought. Her stomach growled again, even more loudly, as if agreeing. _I have to think about something else. Something other than food_. She let her mind roam, searching for something that would take her mind off of her hunger. Her thoughts finally settled on Booth. _That's a safe topic,_ she thought. He would be out looking for her. She knew that he would. _I wonder what he's doing right now,_ she wandered. Brennan let out a sigh. _I wander how he's doing with the squints?_ She let her mind drift. Not wanting to really think about anything. She found, much to her surprise, that again her mind settled on Booth. She could see him, standing before her. His deep brown eyes sparkling at her. His face lit in his trademark smile. Brennan felt her heart leap. Joy surged through her body. The smile on Booth's face changed into something more- Brennan thought for a minute-seductive. _Yeah, _she thought. _Seductive._ _Seductive? When did I start using that word to describe Booth?_ Brennan's mind continued to wander. Slowly Booth walked toward her, his shirt was suddenly unbuttoned, exposing the taut skin of his chest. Her heart began to pound. Booth reached out and Brennan could almost feel his hand touching her cheek. She shook her head fiercely to clear it. Letting her head fall back against the wall she thought, _I don't know what's worst. Being hungry or letting Booth invade her thoughts._

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_If you were kiddnapped, who would you think about? _

_Hope you liked it. So now...hit the submit button...send me a review...and go read the next chapter!_


	21. Uncomfortable wooden chair

**Howdy again! No comments...no A/N...just start reading!**

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Zack Addy and Special Agent Seeley Booth entered the lab at 8:21 PM. Angela and Hodgins were still there. "Booth," Angela spoke as she looked up and noticed the two. "I was able to compare the sketch from the mystery man to the skeleton. I would say that they're related." Booth nodded, and then turned to Hodgins as the he approached.

"And you?"

"Good news and bad news, man," Hodgins said. "Bad news, I didn't find anything about a boy named Jeremy Whitman. Good news, so to speak, I did find something about a boy who went missing in 1995. He was three and they never found him. His name was Kevin Wolffe."

"Is there any picture of Kevin?" Angela asked. Hodgins nodded, already heading back to his desk. After a few seconds of shifting through papers, turned around and handed it to Angela, who had followed him. Angela carefully looked at the picture; scanning every inch of the face. "I think Kevin may my our skeleton, Booth."

"Let me see that." Angela handed Booth the paper. "Where is the drawing you did?" Booth looked at the picture in his hands, as Angela went to her office and returned with her drawing pad. She flipped through a few pages and then turned it around so Booth could see it. "You think you can make Kevin here 14?"

"Not a problem," she answered, plucking the paper from his hands.

"So, Kevin Wolffe is really Jeremy Whitman?" Zack asked.

"No," Booth told him. "Jeremy is Kevin. Or at least the Jeremy we have here."

"Then where's the real Jeremy?"

"That's our job to find out. But in order to do that…we _have_ to figure out what happened to Jeremy." Booth had begun to pace, his hands suck deep in his pants pockets.

"Maybe," Zack started. "Maybe we're going at this the wrong way." Booth glanced up, but didn't stop his movement.

"Continue," Booth said. Zack coughed to clear his throat.

"I was just thinking…well, maybe Jeremy isn't dead." Angela and Hodgins watched Booth pace. They looked from him to their young colleague. Zack normally didn't say a word when Booth was around, now he was throwing speculations at the agent.

"Not dead," Booth repeated. "If Jeremy isn't dead, then why did the Whitman family have Kevin? Why were they passing him off as their son? Where's Jeremy?" Suddenly he stopped. "I think you may be on to something here, Zack." He turned and headed toward the door.

"Where are you going?" Angela asked.

"Archives," was his simple answer.

_Twinkle, twinkle little star. How I wonder what you are. Up above the world so high. Like a diamond in the sky. Twinkle, twinkle little star. How I wonder what you are._ Temperance Brennan sighed. Had it come to this? She was so bored that she was now singing unrealistic children songs. _I know what a star is_, she thought. _Why can't we just teach children the truth? _Why do we fill their heads with songs and nonsense that they just have to unlearn when they become an adult? _Well, maybe they do look like diamonds_, she thought, and the scolded herself. _No, I will not allow myself to think like that. I'm a scientist. But who says I can't believe in a little magic from time to time. Oh, great, now I sound like Booth._ Brennan smiled. Her mind drifted back to the night at the park. It seemed like so long ago. Her and Booth were laying on the picnic table staring up at the stars. _That's where that stupid game of 20 questions started. Who's turn is it anyway?_ The moon was bright and full and Brennan could remember how the light from it played across Booth's features. He looked even more attractive in the moons silvery illumination. _Now I'm thinking about how attractive Booth is. I need to focus on something. Anything not related to that man._ But it was hard to. Hard not to think about all the times Booth had been there for her. Hard not to think of the times that he saved her. He had proven her innocence. He had-_ damn it, I hate to say it­_- become one of her closest friends. _But he's a FBI agent,_ she reasoned. _And he's irritating. And he works based on gut feelings. He mistrusts technology._ Brennan sighed. _He's also charming and funny and makes me think._ This line of thoughts was dangerous. She knew that, but she couldn't stop the thoughts from coming. _I know he's out there. Looking for me. He won't let me down. Please find me Seeley._ The sound of the lock turning brought her back to reality quickly. The door squeaked opened, and Brennan heard footsteps across the floor. A hand reached down and grabbed her upper arm and dragged her to her feet. "Try anything, and you're dead," a voice said. Another person tied a gag around her mouth, and Brennan was carried out of the room.

Booth sat back in the uncomfortable wooden chair. He rubbed his hands over his face and let out a frustrated sigh. He had been sitting in the same chair for three and a half hours, staring at a computer screen. "I know something is here," he said to himself. He focused his eyes back to the words and began to read. Booth wasn't entirely sure what he was searching for, but he figured he would know _it_ when he saw _it_. Page after page he went through until his eyes finally settled on the name Whitman. A small grin came to his face as he read. _Gotcha_, he thought. He logged out of the system, shut the computer down and pushed back from the table. With the back of his hand he covered a yawn. _I need a few hours sleep before meeting the squints,_ he thought. He stood from the chair, thankful he didn't have to sit in it very often, and left the room.

It didn't take him long to make it to his apartment. The thought of a warm bed and sleep tugged on his mind. A feeling of guilt swelled in his heart as he pulled out his door key. _I wonder where Bones is. Is she sleeping? Is she hurt?_ Booth swung the door opened, flipped on his lights and then stopped. Something was wrong. Booth pulled his gun and quickly scanned the room. He slowly entered. The feeling of something out of place gnawed at him. He carefully made his way through his apartment. Systemically searching each room until the only room left was his bedroom. He stopped in front of the closed door and listened. Nothing. Not a sound, but Booth knew. He knew something was wrong. That someone or something was in there. He turned and put his back to the wall beside the door. He took a deep breath, reached out, turned the doorknob and three the door open. Booth listened from where he stood. Nothing. He knew that if he just stepped into the doorway, that he would be blinded by the darkness, and that the light to his back would make him a target to anyone inside the room. So he waited a moment, then in one brisk move he turned and dropped to a crouch just to the left and inside the door. With his gun held out in front of him he waited for his vision to quickly adjust. That's when his eyes landed on the bed. "Bones?"

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_HA! And you all thought you knew how Booth was gonna find Bones. HAHA! I laugh at you! Ok, sorry...I'm a little...crazy right now. What I meant to say was "Surprise!"_

_So, how are you liking the chapters with Zack?_

_Puh-lease revies!_

_TBC..._


	22. Night, Bones

**A/N: I would like to give you all my regrets that it took sooo very long to get this chapter up. I have been sick. And my mind was this green, mushy stuff that splashed around my skull like soup. I just couldn't write. I looked at my computer scene and watched my scenesaver. Anyhow, I am still sick cough-cough, (I'll try not to breath on anybody) but my muse is feeling better. Yeah! So I was able finish writing this chapter. And the next one! So look for it on Monday. Again, sorry to have left you all hanging for so long. But I hope you enjoy this chapter. **

* * *

Brennan heard the door opened. Then she heard her name. That voice. She knew that voice. She struggled against the gag in her mouth. "Booth," she tried to say, but it came out as a muffled scream. She felt the bed she was on move as Booth sat beside her. Then there was light. He quickly got rid of the gag. He brought his hand up and cupped her cheek. Tears were forming in her eyes.

"I was worried sick about you," he said. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his pocketknife. In a few swift movements, Brennan's hands and feet were free. "Are you okay?" Brennan nodded, not trusting herself to speak. She felt the burn of tears. "Are you sure?" Booth ran the back of his fingers down her face. He knew that he was in her _personal space_, but he needed to touch her. To make sure she was really there. Suddenly Brennan threw her arms around his neck and held him close. Booth wrapped his own arms around her, and rubbed her back. "There, there," he said softly. "It's okay. I'm here." Brennan couldn't help it as the tears that she fought to hold back began to fall. Booth sat there, holding her, whispering soft words of encouragement, until she finally pulled away. She wiped her face with her hands. "I need to call Agent Penn," Booth said. "Okay? He's the agent officially assigned to your case." Brennan nodded. She listened as Booth quickly explained to the other agent what was going on. When he hung up, he again reached out and touched Brennan. This time on the arm. "Come on," he said. "Lets go into the living room. I'll get you some tea or something." Brennan allowed herself to be pulled up off the bed and lead out of the room.

Booth had just finished making them both some tea when Penn arrived. Along with four other agents and a line of squints. Brennan sat on the couch nursing her cup of tea. Angela sat beside her, arm around her shoulders. Zack and Hodgins stood off to the side, out of the way. There were agents in Booth's bedroom and in the hall looking for evident. Penn sat in a chair across from Brennan, and Booth paced. "Can you tell me what happened?" Penn asked gently. Booth had explained to Brennan as they waited, that Penn had been his trainer. And she could see where Booth had gotten his interrogation skills from. Brennan took a deep, ragged breath.

"I was," she stopped, and licked her lips. "I was walking to my car when someone grabbed me from behind." Again she stopped. "I tried to fight but was quickly subdued. When I woke up, I was blindfolded and tied up."

"Do you remember anything about where you were?" Brennan dropped her eyes to the cup.

"I remember I was sitting on a mattress or something. And that the walls were cold. Nobody was in the room with me. When they did come in, I heard a lock and the door squeaked. The floor was something hard. I could hear the feet hitting the ground." Penn nodded his head.

"Good," he said. "Do you remember anything about the people who took you?"

"There was at least two and one was a man. He's the only one that said anything." Again Penn nodded. Brennan looked up and watched Booth pace while Penn wrote down notes.

"And can you remember anything else?" Brennan shook her head no.

"I spent most of the time alone." She dropped her eyes back down and Angela squeezed her in a side way hug.

"Do you know how you got to Booth's apartment?" Brennan drew her brows together in thought. She had been trying to figure that out ever since Booth had found her. She knew that she hadn't been there the entire time, but why had they moved her? Why had given her back?

"I, umm…I'm not sure. I was sitting there thinking about…thinking, and they came in. Told me if I tried anything then I was dead. One guy threw me over his shoulder and carried me out. The next thing I know I'm sitting on a bed. I didn't know where until Booth came in." Penn nodded.

"And you, Booth. Do you know why Dr. Brennan's kidnappers would have brought her here? Why they would just release her, for that matter?" Booth didn't stop pacing.

"I'm guessing they brought her here because we're partners. As for as releasing her…I have my thoughts." Indeed he did. And all his thoughts settled on Diana Alexander.

"And would you care to share?" Booth shook his head.

"Not right now." Penn turned his attention back to Brennan.

"Thank you, Dr. Brennan," he said. "I'll have an agent escort you to…"

"Escort?" Booth interrupted. He stopped in mid-step and looked at Penn.

"I have to put her under protective custody," Penn explained, turning in the chair to look at Booth. "You know that."

"I'll take charge of her," Booth said.

"Now Booth," Penn said, standing up to face the agent. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"She's my partner, Penn," Booth defended.

"I know that, Seeley, however." Penn was cut off when Booth stepped forward, grabbed the older agent by the arm and dragged him to the corner. Brennan looked over at Angela, who shrugged. Harsh whispers reached Brennan's ears, but she couldn't make them out. The squints watched each other and the arguing agents. Finally Penn nodded and left the apartment. The other agents followed, leaving only Booth, Brennan and her team.

"What's going on?" Brennan asked. Booth sat down in the seat that Penn had emptied.

"Penn has to put you in protective custody," Booth told her. "I convinced him that I should be the one to stay with you."

"What can we do, Booth?" Angela asked. "How can we help?"

"Right now, why don't you three head home. Catch a few hours of sleep and we'll met back up at the lab." Brennan watched as Booth lead Hodgins, Zack and Angela out. She gave each of them a weak smile as they bid her good-bye. She heard the door close and lock. Then Booth came back and sat down beside her. "I'm glad you're okay, Tempe," he said softly. Brennan turned her head to look at him. "Why don't I find you something to wear and you can take the first shower?" Brennan dropped her eyes and nodded. Booth stood and held out a hand for her. She looked at it for a moment then took the offered hand.

Brennan took her time in the shower. The hot water felt good running down her body. Washing away the feelings of fear. She ran her hands over her wet hair, and turned her face up into the stream on water. Brennan let out a heavy sigh. She was thankful that Penn had allowed her to stay with Booth. She felt safe here…safe with Booth. Brennan smiled as she reached down and turned off the water. She pulled back the curtain and reached for her towel. Brennan died off, and slid one of Booth's shirts on. It hung to her mid-thigh. She then pulled on a pair of sweat shorts on, they went down past her knees and she had to pull the string as tight as she could. Still toweling her hair, she opened the door. Booth was laying on the bed- head propped up on a pillow. He turned his head and looked at her. "Good shower?"

"Yes, thank you," she said, walking over to the bed and sitting down on the edge. Booth watched her as she dried her hair. "What are you smirking at?" she asked.

"I have a fantasy that starts out like this," he teased, earning him a wet towel in the face. He couldn't help but to laugh. "Sorry." Brennan pulled her legs on the bed, and scooted back until she was up against the headboard. "And just what do you think you're doing?" he asked when she reached for the covers.

"Thought I would watch TV while you took a shower," she told him.

"You? Watch TV?" She snatched the remote out of his hand.

"Yeah. I do watch it from time to time. This is one of those times." Brennan looked at him out of the side of her eyes and smiled. Booth just shook his head and pushed himself up off the bed.

After his shower, Booth opened the door to leave the bathroom. His eyes landed on the figure of Brennan. The TV was still on, but she had fallen asleep. He stood there a minute and watched the sleeping doctor, before walking over to the bed. He pulled the covers up around her and let his hand smooth over her head. He picked up the remote and turned off an episode of Scoopy-Doo. "Night, Bones," he said, softly. He turned off the lamp and left the room, shutting the door quietly behind him as he went.

* * *

_So what did you think? Did I answer a few questions? Let's see...this is chapter 22 and there are...dare I say it...25 chapters. So need I say that starting with the next chapters things are really going to move. Fast! I hope everything comes together alright. _

_Oh...and just to keep you all reading and reviewing...I do have the "kiss" that everybody has been wanting. But in what chapter? I'm not tellin'!_

_TBC..._


	23. To see a man about a Wolffe

**That's it! (crosses arms over chest) I've had it! I am NOT going to post the next chapter UNTIL I reach the 300 mark! Come on, guys, I beggin' here. I have 287 reviews. I want to be over 300 by the end of this fiction. So no next chapter UNTIL I reach my goal! (turns away from adoring fans)**

**A/N: To kiss or not to kiss? But the really important question is DOES it happen in this chapter?**

**Disclaimer: I only own my weird and crazy ideas. But not BONES...and sadly...not Booth.**

* * *

Seeley Booth awoke the next day with a pain in his back and a crick in his neck. He opened his eyes just enough to take in the time from the clock across the room. He stretched out his legs to try to loosen his muscles. He crossed his arms over his chest and closed his eyes again. Booth knew that he should get up. He knew that he had things that needed to be done, but he couldn't make himself budge. A noise caught his ears. The sound of a door opening and bare feet padding across the floor. "Booth," he heard Brennan say. He cracked his eyes open and looked over at her. His breath caught. She stood just inside the living room with her hands on her hips. Her hair messy from sleep and her clothes-_my clothes, Booth thought-_ were crumpled. "You awake?" 

"Naw, I'm still snoring," he teased. She rolled her eyes, and walked across the room. She slapped at his legs until he brought his feet up to near his butt, freeing up the end of the couch. As she sat down, Booth asked, "Sleep well, Bones?" She drew her feet up underneath her.

"Yes. Thank you. I didn't mean to fall asleep in your bed," she told him. "You should have woken me up."

"Didn't see any reason too," Booth said. He put a hand to his mouth to cover a yawn, and then stretched his arms up over his arm, then folded them behind his head.

"Still, I didn't mean to put you out of your own bed." Booth smiled.

"Don't mention it, Bones," he said.

"Booth," Brennan said quietly.

"Huh?"

"You know who took me, don't you?" Booth knew the question was coming and he knew he owed Brennan the truth.

"Does it matter, Bones?"

"No," she finally answered after a long moment. "I guess not." She cleared her throat, and Booth opened his eyes to look at her.

"Something on your mind?" Brennan gave him a tight smile and shook her head no. She let out a heavy sigh.

"Why weren't you looking for me?" she blurted out, her cheeks turning red as soon as the words left her mouth. Booth folded his legs Indian style and sat up.

"I _was _looking for you," he told her. Brennan shook her head.

"But Penn is lead agent," she began, not looking at him. He reached out, placed his fingers on her chin and turned her head so that he could look into her eyes.

"He might have been lead, Tempe," he said. "But only because Cullen wanted me still working the Whitman case. That _does not_ mean that I wasn't involved. I was there from the beginning. I talked to Penn every hour on the hour." He stopped and took a breath. "Just because I wasn't _official lead_ doesn't mean I _wasn't_ in charge. And Penn and Cullen and everybody else knew that." Brennan dropped her eyes.

"I'm sorry," she said softly. "It's just…I mean…well…I'm sorry." He bent down until he caught her eyes again.

"Hey," he said. "Don't _even_ doubt that I'm going to be there for you."

"I don't. It's just, well, during the whole kidnapping thing the thought of…of you looking for me kept me calm. Then to learn another…" she went quiet, and then whispered, "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," he told her. "I'm always going to be here. Always going to look for you. Always going to do ever thing in my power to protect you." Brennan watched his eyes go through the emotions as he talked and knew that he meant everything he said. She knew that as long as they were partners, then he always had her back. She smiled at him, letting him know that she got it.

"I need to go by my place and shower and change before going to the lab," she told him. He nodded.

"Yeah, just let me get showered and dress myself." He dropped his feet to the floor and was about to stand when Brennan put a hand on his arm. "What is it, Bones?" he asked, turning to face her. She leaned over and placed a gentle kiss on his lips.

"Thank you," she whispered with a smile. His eyes shone as he returned the smile.

"For you, Tempe, anything...anytime."

Angela Montenegro was the first to see the anthropologist and the FBI agent walk in. To her trained eyes, something looked different. Something in the way they exchanged glances or in the way they leaned a little closer as they talked. Yes, to a matchmaker mastermind like Angela, something was different all right. However, she didn't have time to think about it. As the two walked toward Brennan office Booth called out, "Squint meeting. Bones' office." Hodgins and Zack looked up from their work and Brennan knew they were going to argue. Booth had no right to order them around. She was just about to say something when the two men and Angela fell in behind them. _What happened when I was gone?_ she asked herself.

In her office, she took a seat behind her desk, Angela and Zack choose the couch, Hodgins leaned up against the door frame and Booth stood off to the side with his arms folded over his chest. "The Whitman case," he began. "What do we know?"

"We know that the baby Jeremy and the Jeremy that went missing are not the same person," Zack begun. "But the skeleton and the missing Jeremy are the same."

"We also know that that man the Mrs. Jones saw has a strong resemblance to the missing Jeremy. And using age progression, we found out that Baby Jeremy would look a lot like the Whitman dad."

"Good, good," Booth said. Brennan looked from her team to her partner. When did they start working together? And when did Booth start showing Zack any attention? "What else?"

"Well, we don't know what happen to Baby Jeremy," Hodgins said. "There are not missing reports or deaths. Missing Jeremy might be Kevin Wolffe and according to Ange's drawings…we can say it's so."

"We still don't know why the skeleton is taller than the missing Jeremy," Zack pointed out. "Did someone keep him alive? And if so, then for what?"

"He was alive, alright," Booth said. "But nobody _kept_ him." The four squints looked at the agent.

"What do you mean?" Brennan asked. Booth ran a hand over his face in thought.

"Come on, Bones," he said, walking out of the office.

"Where are we going?" Brennan asked, standing up to follow.

"To see a man about a Wolffe and to get a search warrant," he called back. Brennan was out of the office following Booth when she made Hodgins, Zack and Angela all laugh by saying, "I don't know what that means."

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_Ok, so I know what you're thinking. "That was the kiss you were hyping at the beginning? A cute little kiss with NO tongue!" LOL...no that's not THE KISS. That kiss doesn't happen...until...later. Two more chapters. Where oh where is THE KISS! lol_

_Remember...no next cahpter until I reach 300 reviews. Yes, I'm bribing you. Deal!_

_TBC..._


	24. Case run down

**(peeks over shoulder...spins around...clasp hands together and jumps up and down) Oh...you did it! You all pushed me over the 300 mark! I know, I know...bribing is not nice. But I was just soooooo freakin' close. And I just wanted to make sure that you really wanted the next chapter.**

**A/N: Ok, so here we are...the next to the last chapter. Can you all beleive it? So we have climbed to the top of the mountain. All of our questions are out there...waiting to be answered. And in this chapter...all the ends...will...most of the ends are tied up in a pretty bow. Let me go ahead and tell you this...this chapter takes place AFTER the fact. The case is solved...the bad guy caught...the file handed in to Cullen. So sit back...read...and see if you had it figured out.**

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"I'm all ears, Agent Booth," Deputy Director Cullen said, as he leaned forward in his chair. His hands resting on his desk. Booth sat opposite of the angry looking director. "Tell me how this…_usual_- to say the least- case went down." Booth took a deep breath.

"Well, you see, sir, Bon-uh, Brennan wasn't haveing much luck with the skeleton brought into the lab. There were no teeth, and no DNA so no way to know _who_ he was. With the case file on the Whitman boy being ransacked and missing half the stuff, we had to start with what we knew. That Jeremy Whitman had gone missing just over 2 years ago. So Brennan had Ms. Montenegro use her Angelator thingy to analyze a picture of Jeremy taken two day before he went missing. Well, Angela was able to determine that the boy in the picture and the skeleton were not the same height."

"I do hope you have more than that, Booth," Cullen said.

"Yes, sir," Booth told him. "But that's what got my suspicions up. Then a woman came forward and said that she saw Jeremy talking to a man for a month before he went missing. So I sent a sketch artist over to talk to the woman and to get a drawing of the man. We were able to establish that the man and Jeremy had a lot of the same features."

"So who is this man?" Cullen interrupted.

"In due time, sir. After we found this out, I began to think that maybe Jeremy was adopted. But that wasn't the case. I had Hodgins look into some _public_ records where he found an old newspaper article of Jeremy at age four. Just some fun little piece about a fair. Anyhow, once he found that, we had Angela age the boy and he didn't look anything like the Jeremy that had went missing. So then we had to figure out why."

"And you said the squint searched only public records?" Cullen asked.

"Absolutely," Booth answered. Cullen motion for him to continue. "Anyhow, Hodgins found an article about a young boy named Kevin Wolffe who went missing around age four, not far from where the Whitman's lived in Alabama."

"Let me guess, Ms. Montenegro's skills came into play again?" Booth nodded.

"Indeed. She was able to age the missing person picture to give us an almost identical picture of the missing Jeremy."

"So the Whitman family kidnapped Kevin Wolffe?" Cullen asked. Booth nodded. "But what happened to their own son? Is he dead?"

"Well, after hours of sitting in a very uncomfortable chair," Booth said. "I came across the answer. The real Jeremy isn't dead. He's in a mental hospital. Apparently Mr. Whitman thought a mentally challenged kid wouldn't look good for him in his race for public office. So he stuck him in some hospital in Texas, far away from where they were living, claiming he was a nephew and his parents were dead. With enough money, nobody asked questions."

"Then what? They take the Wolffe kid and leave Alabama?"

"Yup. They took Kevin and spent a year overseas passing the boy as Jeremy. When they came back nobody was the wiser." Cullen rubbed his face and sat back in his chair.

"But what about the mystery man? And who killed the kid?"

"Ah, well, you see, Mr. Wolffe never stopped looking for his son. He happened to see a picture of Kevin in the newspaper when he came for a visit with his family. Mr. Wolffe knew it was his son. He was the man Mrs. Jones saw talking to Jeremy…err…Kevin."

"So why did you arrest the Whitmans?"

"Because, sir, Mr. Wolffe finally convinced Kevin of the truth, and the boy ran away to go back to his _real_ family. That's when the Whitman's reported him missing. Only Kevin came back. He wanted answers that only the Whitman's could give. In a fit a rage Mr. Whitman killed him." Cullen shook his head.

"My head hurts," he said.

"I know, my did too trying to figure it all out. Especially with your ban on me working with Brennan and then my _partner _goes missing. But we solved the case."

"And not to the uppers liking," Cullen pointed out. "That's why that new _agent_ was sent in. To keep you from solving it. What they didn't except is for you and your squint squad to go behind her back." Booth gave a low chuckle. "How _did_ you find out about Diana Alexander, anyhow?"

"I have my ways, sir. Ways I would prefer not to say." Cullen nodded his understanding.

"You know my hands where tired with this case, don't you, Booth? It wasn't my idea." Booth nodded.

"I know sir."

"You do know that the high ups are not happy with you, don't you? They are down right ticked that you outsmarted one of their best agents."

"If she was one of their best, they need new agents." This time Cullen chuckled.

"That they do." Booth stood from his chair.

"Does this mean that I'm back with Brennan?" Booth asked.

"In my opinion, Booth, you were never away from her. For some reason you two work well together. I have no intention of splitting you up." Booth gave him a smile and turned to leave. His hand was on the door handle when Cullen spoke again. "Oh, Booth, tell Goodman good work." Booth turned back to the deputy director who just gave him a stern look. A look that read 'ask no questions'. Booth nodded and then left.

When Special Agent Seeley Booth left FBI headquarters it was dark. It had been a long day- hell a long few days- and he couldn't wait to get home. But there was one place he needed to stop first. He smiled to himself and tossed his keys into the air and caught them. "Well, well, well," a voice said as he made it to the driving side door of his SUV. He turned, putting his keys into his jacket pocket. Greg Blancher stood glaring at him. "If it isn't the hero of the FBI."

"Do I know you?" Booth asked, taking in the man.

"No, but I know you and _your partner_, Dr. Brennan. I do hope that she wasn't _too_ shaken by her kidnapping." Booth froze, anger beginning to boil in his vein. "Diana said she was one tough cookie." Greg slowly shook his head. "May I say, Agent Booth, you really did surprise us."

"You stay away from Brennan," he threatened.

"Oh, I have no more use of her. That was only a ploy to distract you, which failed thanks to your little threat to Diana."

"You son of a…" Booth was cut short when two men came up from behind him and grabbed his arms. Struggle as he may, he couldn't break their hold.

"Now, now, Booth, do hold your temper."

"What do you want?" Booth spat at him. Greg took a step toward him and landed a punch in his gut. Booth would have doubled over if it hadn't been for the two men on either side of him.

"That one was for exposing Diana. You would have done better to leave thing alone." Greg threw another punch, this one making contact with the side of his face. Booth saw the punch coming and turned his head to try to absorb most of the shock. Still, when he turned back to the man and small trickle of blood came from the corner of his mouth. Booth licked his lips and tasted the blood.

"If you work with Alexander," Booth said. "Then I feel sorry for you." Greg threw another punch to Booth's gut.

"She's _my_ partner," Greg spat. "And thanks to you our boss is not happy

at all. Which means _I'm _not happy." Another punch made contact with Booth. This time the two men holding him let go, and Booth found himself on his knees, holding his stomach.

"Sorry…to hear…you have…_that_ as a…partner," Booth hissed out between clenched teeth.

"Why you," Greg finished his sentence with a kick toward Booth, which he caught, sending Greg backwards and hitting the ground hard. Greg's two thug made a move toward Booth, but he was already to his feet with his gun drawn.

"I wouldn't," he said. He reached behind him and opened the door. Still pointing the gun at the two large men, Booth glanced over at Greg, as he got into the SUV. "Give my regards to Diana. Hope I never see either one of you'll again." With that Booth slammed the door shut and locked the doors. He quickly started the engine and pulled off.

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_Ahhh...still no kiss, eh? Will never fear. I promised a kiss before the end of the story...and since there's only one chapter left...you can count on it to be there. _

_So what did you think? I hope everything got answer...if not...I meant to do it and plan on another fic about it...just tell me what it is ;-)_

_Hope I didn't make anybody mad with Booth gettin' beat up a little. Greg was just protecting his partner...same as Booth does._

_BTW...after Wednesday...I won't be on until next week. The finally chapter will be up before then..but I might not get to answer the reviews until then. And those of you who review all the time...know I try to answer each review._

_Ok...that's it._

_TBC..._


	25. Delta Aquarids

**Ok, so here we are. At the end of the story. Thank you ALL for the great reviews. For sticking it out with me through my first fanfic. For the encouragement. It all means so much to me. I hope that you enjoy this chapter. Since I made you wait until the very end for the kiss. Read and enjoy. A special thanks and shout out to my fan club members. **

**A/N: By the way...incase you lost count. The is one last question to be asked and answered. Remember, this whole fiction started with a game of 20 questions.**

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Dr. Temperance Brennan sat at her desk. Angela had left about two hours before. After trying her best to get Brennan to go home. Finally Angela said good night and left. Next to go were Hodgins and Zack. They both waved their goodbyes as they left the lab arguing about something or another. Brennan was surprised when thirty minutes after them, Dr. Goodman stopped by her office. "Glad to have you back, Dr. Brennan," he said, after a light tap on her doorframe. Brennan looked up at her boss. 

"Good to be back, sir," she said.

"I do hope that you won't stay too late into the night."

"Just wanted to finish reading the Whitman case," she told him. "I missed a lot by not being here." Goodman nodded.

"I was pleased and, may I add, truly surprised to see your team working so well with Agent Booth." Brennan smiled at the comment. "I expect things to return to normal now that you are back." Brennan smiled even bigger.

"Yes, I expect they'll go back to annoying each other by morning." Goodman nodded again.

"Goodnight, Dr. Brennan."

"Night." She watched the retreating back of Dr. Goodman, and then turned back to the case file. Thirty minutes passed before she heard light footsteps. A small smile tugged her lips. She knew it was Booth.

"Late night, Bones?" Booth asked, walking into her office.

"Just finishing up…what happened to you?" she asked, as she looked up. She quickly took in his bruised cheek and slightly swollen lips. She also noticed that he kept his left arm close to his stomach. As if protecting it. She stood from her seat and started toward him.

"Just a little…reminder," he said. Brennan stopped in front of him and gingerly reached out and touched his face.

"A reminder? What does that mean? Who did this to you, Booth?" He smiled at her concern.

"Doesn't really matter, does it?"

"Yes, it does. I want to know."

"Why? So you can go open up a can of whoop ass on him?" Brennan drew her brows together.

"I don't know what that means." Booth chuckled. "Who?"

"Diana Weasley…or Alexander…or whatever her name is…her partner."

"Are you going to go to Cullen?" she asked.

"Naw. Like I said…it was just a reminder…and trust me, I got the message."

"What message? Booth, what are you talking at. I'm calling Cullen." Booth grabbed her wrist as she reached for her phone. "Booth," she challenged as she turned to face him.

"It was handled," he said. "He just wanted me to know that me ratting Diana out wasn't sitting well with him. Wanted me to know to stay away."

"But he can't do that, Booth. He can't beat you up. Can he?" Booth smiled at her, and let go of her arm.

"He didn't do anything I wouldn't," he told her. "He didn't want me missing anymore with his partner…I don't want him messin' with mine. We _understand_ each other." Brennan shook her head in disgust.

"You mean…you mean this is some kind of macho male thing?" Booth nodded.

"Now you're getting it."

"You will at least put some ice on that bruise, won't you?"

"As soon as I get home. But first, I need your day planner." Brennan gave him a look that clearly said no.

"I don't think so, Booth." He gave her his best charm smile.

"Please," he said softly, taking a step toward her, leaving only inches between them. "Your day planner, or I find something else to keep my hands busy." Brennan's eyes went wide and her heart sped up. She wasn't sure if it was because of what Booth was suggesting or because she wasn't all to shaken by the idea. Finally she turned toward her desk, picked up her planner and handed it to him. He gave her a shy smile and took a step away. She watched as he flipped pages, and then took a pen from his pocket. He had a half smile as he wrote something on one of the pages and then shut the book.

"Hey," she protested. "How am I supposed to know what you wrote?" He winked at her as he handed the book back.

"The final question is mine," he said, ignoring the question. Brennan knew what he was talking about. Their silly little game of 20 questions.

"Alright," she said. "What is it?"

"Early today," he began. "Did it mean anything?"

"Did what?" Brennan asked turning away from him and dropping her planner back to her desk. She also knew what he was talking about this time. She had shocked both of them when she gave him a soft kiss on the lips. She really didn't know what had caused her to do that, and now here he was. Asking if it meant anything. Brennan felt, more than heard, Booth close the distant between them. She felt a hand on her shoulder, turning her to face him. She willed herself not to step back, not to look away. She felt vulnerable- unprotected- having him search her eyes. But still, she didn't look away. Finally, he leaned down ever so slowly. She knew he was giving her every chance to stop him. With only inches separating their mouths, Brennan licked her lips and slightly tilted her head up. She could feel his warm breath across her lips. Could smell his distinctive aroma.

Booth couldn't believe he was standing there, his mouth inches from Brennan. And she wasn't pulling away. She was just standing there, staring into his eyes…waiting. He wanted to kiss her. Wanted to taste her. But he didn't want to rush. He was holding himself back…controlling his urge, giving her all the chances in the world to stop him, but she wasn't. She looked halfway… hopeful. Finally, she licked her lips and tilted her head ever so slightly upward giving him the permission he had been waiting for. Like a feather floating on the wind, he touched his lips to hers.

A shock ran through her body the moment he touched her lips. It was a gentle kiss. A barely there kiss. For a moment he lingered there… only just touching her. Brennan stood there…enjoying the warmth. She jumped slightly when he brought a hand up to cup her face, titling her mouth farther upward. He ran his tongue across her lips, asking again for permission. Not wanting to take it farther than she was willing. Brennan's breath caught and her heart slammed against her rib cage. Again he ran his tongue over her lips and this time she parted them. He invaded her mouth and wrapped his free arm around her waist, pulling her closer to him. He wanted to feel her. The hand that cupped her face was now tangled in her hair.

Brennan wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer. She now freely gave him access to her mouth, and she was determined to explore his just as much. Their breathing was heavy, and their kiss now urgent. Finally Booth broke the kiss. Keeping his mouth close to hers he asked again, "Did it mean anything?" Brennan let her hands fall until they were resting, palms pressed to his chest. She could feel his heart pounding just as hard as hers. She dropped her eyes a moment, staring at his shirt. At her hands touching him. He waited. Then she lifted her face and gave him a gentle kiss.

"Yes, Seeley," she said softy, her voice hoarse with emotion. She couldn't get anymore out, but his smile told her that he understood.

"Good," he said. As he lowered his head to kiss her again, a noise reached their ears.

"Brennan, sweetie," Angela called as the lab doors opened. Booth and Brennan quickly stepped apart; Booth taking a few steps toward the couch, Brennan swiftly walking around her desk and taking a seat. "Sweetie, I knew you would still be here," Angela said, making her way to the office. "Get your coat, I'm taking you out to…oh." She stopped as soon as she stepped in Brennan's office and noticed Booth. She took in his bruised face, his fat lip and also the slight flush that touched his cheeks. The same pink ting that colored Brennan. "Am I interrupting anything?" she asked.

"No," Brennan said.

"I just stopped by to give Bones an update about the Whitman case," Booth threw in. Angela nodded. She knew something had happened.

"Cullen get mad at you upsetting the big bosses?" Angela teased, waving a hand to indicate his bruised face. Booth gave her a smile.

"Guess you could say that."

"Ange, haven't you already left?" Brennan asked.

"Umm, yeah, but I thought I would take you out for dinner," Angela said. "I just really wanted to make sure you left the lab at a decent time. But if you and Booth…"

"No, you two ladies go on," Booth interrupted. "I'm running on a lack of sleep." Booth started toward the door, before turning back to Brennan. "We good?" She gave him a smile and nodded. "Good." He gave her a sly little smile, turned back to Angela. "Night, Ange."

"Good night, Booth," she said, as he walked by. Angela looked at Brennan with a knowing look. "You going to tell me what happened?" she asked.

"Oh, Tempe" Booth said, sticking his head through door. "August 14." He gave Brennan a wink, nodded to Angela and left.

"August 14?" Angela asked. She watched as Brennan opened her day planner and quickly flipped through it. Brennan smiled as she read what Booth had wrote:

_Bones & Booth _

_Pre-Dawn_

_Delta Aquarids meteor shower _

_Looking to catch that shooting star…_

"Tempe?" Brennan looked up at her friend and closed the book. "You going to share?"

"You know, Angela, I think dinner sounds like a great idea," Brennan said with a smile.

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_I know I said this was the last chapter...but I lied. There will be an Epilogue. So keep an eye out._

_Thanks for reading. Hope you liked the kiss! _

_The Delta Aquarids is a real meteor shower. It peaks in the Southern Hemisphere around July 28/29. They also have the best show. The duration of the northern Delta Aquarids meteor shower covers the period of July 16 to September 10. Maximum currently occurs on August 13/14. Learn more athttp/comets. to catching shooting stars. May all your wishes come true!_


	26. Epilogue

**Here we are. At the very end. The _Epilogue._ I hope that you have enjoyed the ride. The reading. The lame jokes. I wasn't planning on writing an epilogue, but after rereading the last chapter...I thought it would be nice to know what happened. Did Booth and Brennan become a couple after that amazing kiss? Well, here's where you're going to find out.**

**A/N: This is a future piece. It takes place in August 2006. And I refer to things from the very first chapter. So you might want to reread it.**

**Enjoy!**

**

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Dr. Temperance Brennan was relaxed. It was the morning of August 14 and she sat on a blanket at the park that so many months before, her and Booth had stopped and had a picnic. The park that had started their game of 20 questions. The sun wouldn't be coming up for hours still. The only thing to be seen was thousands of stars and one bright moon. She smiled to herself, pulled her knees up and wrapped her arms around them. Her head was tilted back; her eyes searching the night sky above her. To her side, Special Agent Seeley Booth sat reclined with his arms behind him putting him at an angle to see the stars. His legs were stretched out before him, crossed at the ankles. Brennan sighed. "Do you think we'll see any…shooting stars?" she asked. She made herself call them shooting stars instead of meteors. Calling them shooting stars forced her to believe, if only for a few minutes, that there was something…romantic about them.**

"I don't know, Bones," Booth answered. "I'm hoping so." He sat up and reached for his soda. After he took a drink he asked, "What will you wish for if we see some?" Brennan turned to look at him. Resting her head on her knees.

"I'm not sure," she replied.

"Well, what did you wish for last time?" Booth watched as a smile spread across her face and even in the darkness could almost see red begin to stain her cheeks.

"I don't remember," she lied. "Something about more hours in the work day." Booth chuckled.

"Is that so?" Brennan nodded her head yes. "Nothing to do with me, then?"

"Well, maybe I did throw in something about you not being so annoying." She laughed when he stuck his tongue out at her. _So much like a child_, she thought. "What did you wish for?"

"Umm, that was a long time ago, wasn't it?" He scratched at his chin in thought. "Well, I remember something about wishing for a partner that wasn't so dependant on work."

"I am not dependant," she defended with a smile. "I just like what I do." She sat up straight and glanced up at the sky. "Look! I just saw one. I get a wish." Booth loved the way that Brennan was learning how to play. Learning not to take everything seriously.

"So what are you going to wish for?"

"Well," she started, head still tilted back. "I wish that…I don't know, Seeley." She dropped her eyes to look at him. _I have everything I want, _she thought "What do you think?"

"Not my star, is it, Tempe? You have to make the wish." Brennan scooted closer to his side and gave him a kiss. "What was that for?"

"Nothing, really," she said. "Just thought I could think better if we were…you know…kissing." Booth flashed her a smile and in one quick movement she was on her back. His body pressed up against her side.

"I know how to make you think," he teased, and then brought his lips down to hers. His free hand found it's way underneath her shirt.

"That," she giggled against his mouth, "does not make me think better."

"Really?" he asked innocently. "And here I thought it did." He captured her lips again. He finally broke the kiss and looked down at her. He knew her eyes were sparkling with delight even through the dimness. "So, you think of a wish yet?" The corners of Brennan's lips turned up.

"Yes, Seeley, I think I do know what to wish for."

"And are you going to tell me?" She reached up with one hand, placed it behind his head and pulled him down closer to her. Until her lips were almost touching his ear. Her other hand ran down the length of his chest.

"I wish to go home," she whispered. "And get you out of these clothes." A smile graced his face when he pulled back to look into her eyes.

"What about the meteor shower?" he asked. "What about trying to catch a shooting star?" Brennan pulled him down into a kiss before she answered.

"I already have all that my heart desires," she said with a smile, pulling him back down to her.

* * *

**_THE END_**

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_Thank you! Thank you! You are all great! So supportive...and you all gave me lots of encouragement. And great reviews. Quite a few of you made me laugh at your thoughts. So on behalf of my muse, Branwen, and myself, I would like to say "Thank you! You are all the best!"_


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